Building A Life Out Of Chaos
by thesharminator
Summary: What would have happened if Jake had been the first of the Quileutes to phase? What if it was too late to keep Laurent from changing Bella? How do they find their places in a new world filled with the supernatural. Part 2 started, there be Cullens now.
1. Chapter 1

**Standard disclaimer: **I don't own these characters. I'm only borrowing them for non profit fun and cheap entertainment.

**SUMMARY: **What would have happened if Jake had been the first of the Quileutes to phase? What if it was too late to help his best friend? How do they find their places in a new world filled with the supernatural.

**Author's note: **This is my first foray into Twilight fanfiction. I welcome constructive criticism particularly about the characterizations of Jacob and Bella I feel a bit shaky about how they come off. I've managed to more or less complete first part of the story which is nearly 100 pages long so the updates should be pretty regular for the foreseeable future.

**Author's note 2: **I'm fixing up some of the grammar in these earlier chapters (Dec 2011) Hopefully they will be more readable :)**  
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Bella's P.O.V.

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It was the Saturday after my bout with the flu that Jacob and I decided to give the search for Edward's meadow another attempt. While we got ready to leave the truck, Jake animatedly described a fight Quil had gotten into at school the day before. Apparently one of the seniors at his school had caught Quil making out with his girlfriend. We were parked on the side of the dirt road where Edward and I had entered the woods almost one year ago. As Jacob spoke, he lay a map of the surrounding forest out on my truck's hood and used our packs and a water bottle to hold down the edges.

I had picked up enough orienteering skills over the past couple of weeks that I could at least read the topographical map and get an idea of what the terrain we would be covering should look like. I glanced at my best friend out of the corner of my eye. Would he be in such a good mood if he knew the real reason I was so obsessed with finding the meadow? That it was my last ditch hope of finding some piece of my beloved Edward. Some concrete proof that he had existed as something more than a memory.

Jacob noticed my sudden morose expression and paused in his story. "You okay Bells?" he asked, putting a hand on my shoulder and squeezing gently.

I contemplated shrugging off his casual gesture of affection. I really should be trying to prevent any further blurring of the lines that divided our friendship from a more intimate relationship. However, like some kind of emotional vampire, I drank in the comfort Jacob's warm hand provided.

Come to think of it, Jacob's hand was more than a little warm. It felt like someone had just put a hot water bottle on my shoulder. "Jacob you're burning up!" I reached up to feel his forehead, it was so warm that I was surprised Jacob wasn't in a coma. "You're worse than you were after the movie last week. We need to get you to a hospital."

I tried to walk back to the cab of the truck, intent on driving my friend to the ER, but he caught my wrist in his massive hand. "Relax Bells, I've never felt better."

I eyed him doubtfully, not sure if the fever had fried his brain. Seeing my hesitation he continued, "I've been like this all week; still have a healthy appetite and everything."

His broad grin melted my resolve to take him to a doctor. After all, I kind of owed him some leeway when it came to personal safety. He hadn't questioned me when I suddenly decided to take up extreme sports. If he wanted to risk his health by running around the woods with a fever, who was I to judge him? Jacob grinned wider, sensing my capitulation. Dropping my wrist, he headed back to the hood of the truck and shoved his map under the top flap of his backpack.

Slinging the pack onto his shoulders he stuffed his compass into one of his pockets and held a hand out to me. Sighing, I shuffled forward and took it. The two of us then headed down the road to where Jacob decided today's search would start. As if he hadn't been interrupted earlier, he continued his story about Quil's womanizing.

It hadn't occur to me that my hiking ability had actually improved since I had started hanging out with Jacob until we emerged from the forest into Edward's clearing a full hour earlier than I thought possible. As I gazed at the unnaturally symmetric field I took in the small and large changes that had occurred since my trip here with Edward so many months ago. I didn't miss the wildflowers that were now out of season. I didn't miss the sunlight pouring into the clearing. I missed Edward.

There was nothing of him left here. Like the Cullen's house, this place was abandoned. I gasped as the hole in my chest was torn open as painfully as the day he left. Jacob caught me as I collapsed and I began sobbing into his chest. Great gasping sobs that I couldn't seem to stop. It was like trying to keep from coughing after inhaling water.

"It's all right Bella, we'll find the right meadow someday."

Somehow I could make out Jacob's words over the sound of my breakdown. Even as far gone as I was, I could hear the confusion in his tone at my over the top reaction. God, how was I going to explain this to him without hurting him? Would he think that I had just used him to get some piece of Edward back?

"It's not...I mean this is the right place." I managed to gasp out.

"But he's not here." Jacob spoke softly, no accusation in his tone.

I was so surprised at his reaction that I actually stopped crying. "You knew?"

Jacob shrugged slightly self consciously. "I figured it had something to do with him, you were so hell-bent on finding the place and all."

I just blinked in disbelief. I thought I had been so sneaky enlisting Jacob's help to find this place, but he had known my motivation all along. I felt more than a little foolish, and didn't really know what to say. Guilt was already starting to gnaw at my stomach while Jacob watched me, gauging my reaction.

Before I could say anything more, he pulled me into a tight hug and whispered, "I've told you Bella, I don't mind waiting for you. I'll take any excuse to spend time with you."

I desperately wanted to correct him, to tell him that there wasn't enough left of me to wait for. That he should go out and find a girl who wasn't so broken that she needed a danger induced hallucination to make her day complete, but I couldn't. I couldn't take the risk that he would actually listen to me and push me away. Edward had been so opposed to turning me, but that was exactly what he had done. I was now little more than a vampire; only instead of blood, I fed off Jacob's warmth and emotions. I almost laughed at the irony.

I don't know how long the two of us stayed like that, but eventually I felt whole enough to gently push against Jacob's chest and stand up. I self consciously wiped my eyes as Jacob stood. He held out a hand and asked, "Want to head home?"

I nodded. I took his hand and was about to let him lead me out of the meadow when something made me look across to the opposite side.

There, standing just beyond the edge of forest, was a lone figure. Seeing the utter stillness, the pallid skin, a rush of piercing hope rocked through me. I suppressed it viciously, fighting against the equally sharp lash of agony as my eyes continued to the face beneath the black hair, a face that wasn't the one I wanted to see. Next was fear; this was not the face I grieved for, but it was close enough for me to know that the man facing me was no stray hiker.

And finally, in the end, recognition.

"Laurent!" I cried in surprised pleasure.

It was an irrational response. I probably should have stopped at fear. That was definitely the reaction Jacob was hovering around. "You know this guy Bella?" I had forgotten that normal people were supposed to have an instinctive fear of the monsters.

I nodded absentmindedly. Laurent had been one of James' coven when we'd first met. He hadn't been involved with the hunt that followed, the hunt where I was the quarry, but that was only because he was afraid; I was protected by a bigger coven than his own. It would have been different if that hadn't been the case. He'd had no compunctions, at the time, against making a meal of me. Of course, he must have changed, because he'd gone to Alaska to live with the other civilized coven there, the other family that refused to drink human blood for ethical reasons. The other family like... but I couldn't let myself think the name.

Yes, fear would have made more sense, but all I felt was an overwhelming satisfaction. The meadow was a magic place again. A darker magic than I'd expected, to be sure, but magic all the same. Here was the connection I'd sought. The proof, however remote, that somewhere in the same world where I lived he did exist.

It was impossible how exactly the same Laurent looked. I suppose it was very silly and human to expect some kind of change in the last year. But there was something... I couldn't quite put my finger on it.

"Bella?" he asked, looking more astonished than I felt.

"You remember." I smiled. It was ridiculous that I should be so elated because a vampire knew my name. Jacob eyed the man uneasily; under the natural distrust was another emotion. If I hadn't known better I would have thought it might be jealousy. Maybe he was used to being the only one who could make me smile like this. I gave his hand a reassuring squeeze before I could help myself.

Laurent grinned. "I didn't expect to see you here." He strolled toward us, his expression bemused.

"Isn't it the other way around? I live here. I thought you'd gone to Alaska."

He stopped about ten paces away, cocking his head to the side, eyeing my and Jacob's linked hands. His face was the most beautiful face I'd seen in what felt like an eternity. I studied his features with a strangely greedy sense of release. Here was someone I didn't have to pretend for, someone who already knew everything I could never say.

"You're right," he agreed. "I did go to Alaska. Still, I didn't expect... When I found the Cullen place empty, I thought they'd moved on."

"Oh." I bit my lip as the name set the raw edges of my wound throbbing. It took me a second to compose myself. Laurent waited with curious eyes.

"They did," It was Jacob who spoke. His angry words tearing at the edge of the hole left in my chest.

"Hmm," he murmured. "I'm surprised they left you behind. Weren't you sort of a pet of theirs?" His eyes were innocent of any intended offence.

Jacob stiffened at Laurent's words or possibly at the fact that the vampire seemed to completely ignore his presence.

I smiled wryly. "Something like that."

"Hmm," he said, thoughtful again.

At that precise moment, I realized why he looked the same, too much the same. After Carlisle told us that Laurent had stayed with Tanya's family, I'd begun to picture him, on the rare occasions that I thought of him at all, with the same golden eyes that the... Cullens, I forced the name out, wincing, had. That all good vampires had.

I took an involuntary step back, closer to Jacob. Laurent's curious, dark red eyes followed the movement. It felt like Jacob was vibrating he was so tense.

"Do they visit often?" he asked, still casual, but his weight shifted toward me.

"Lie," Edward's beautiful velvet voice whispered anxiously from my memory.

I started at the sound of his voice, but it should not have surprised me. Were Jacob and I not in the worst danger imaginable? The motorcycles were safe as kittens next to this. I did what the voice said to do.

"Now and again." I tried to make my voice light, relaxed. "The time seems longer to me, I imagine. You know how they get distracted..." I was beginning to babble. I had to work to shut myself up. The lie was not made any more convincing by the way Jacob looked at me as though I was crazy.

"Hmm," he said again. "The house smelled like it had been vacant for a while..."

"You must lie better than that, Bella," the voice urged. At the same time I realized that Laurent wouldn't be so candid in front of a civilian like Jacob if he had any intention of letting us go.

Desperately I tried to be more convincing. "I'll have to mention to Carlisle that you stopped by. He'll be sorry they missed your visit." I pretended to deliberate for a second. "But I probably shouldn't mention it to...Edward, I suppose " I barely managed to say his name, and it twisted my expression on the way out, ruining my bluff. "He has such a temper... well, I'm sure you remember. He's still touchy about the whole James thing." I rolled my eyes and waved one hand dismissively, like it was all ancient history, but there was an edge of hysteria to my voice. I wondered if he and Jacob would recognize what it was.

"Is he really?" Laurent asked pleasantly... skeptically.

I kept my reply short, so that my voice wouldn't betray my panic. "Mm-hmm."

Laurent took a casual step to the side, gazing around at the little meadow. I didn't miss that the step brought him closer to us. In my head, the voice responded with a low snarl.

"So how are things working out in Denali? Carlisle said you were staying with Tanya?" My voice was too high.

The question made him pause. "I like Tanya very much," he mused. "And her sister Irina even more... I've never stayed in one place for so long before, and I enjoy the advantages, the novelty of it. But, the restrictions are difficult... I'm surprised that any of them can keep it up for long." He smiled at me conspiratorially. "Sometimes I cheat."

I couldn't swallow. My foot started to ease back, but I froze when his red eyes flickered down to catch the movement.

"Oh," I said in a faint voice. At this point I realized there was nothing I could do about what was going to happen to me, but maybe, just maybe Jacob could survive. My life didn't have much left in it, but Jacob still had a future to look forward to.

Taking a calming breath I let go of his hand and stepped away from his protective warmth, towards Laurent. The vampire's eyes widened in surprise. I took another breath and forced it to be steady, "Why don't you head down to the truck Jake, Laurent will make sure I get home okay."

I fumbled with the keys in my pocket for a moment before getting them out and tossing them to Jacob. I prayed that my carefree smile was convincing.

Jacob looked at me doubtfully while I turned back to my inevitable exsanguination. Laurent was grinning at me with undisguised amusement. I was so glad my loyalty entertained him. "No Jake, stay. After all it is such a nice day."

With Jacob behind me I locked eyes with the vampire and mouthed the words 'please let him go'. I could feel tears start to fill my eyes, as long as he let Jacob go I could die. I wasn't happy about it, but like last year with Renee, there were worse ways to go than giving your life to save another.

I heard Edward yelling at me not to give up, to keep fighting, keep talking, but I forced myself to ignore him.

Laurent hesitated at hearing my plea, maybe he wasn't a complete monster after all? Looking at Jacob, he said, "Very well, run along boy."

I felt relief flood through me at his words. Relief that was squashed when Jacob grabbed my arm and jerked me back behind him. "No chance in hell you freak."

Laurent raised a perfectly sculpted eyebrow. He was seconds away from killing my hopelessly outmatched knight in shining armour. My mind raced to find a way of getting Jacob out of here before Laurent lost his patience.

Suddenly it came to me, granted it was as cruel as what I had done to Charlie last year, but it would save Jacob's life and that was enough. Grabbing his arm, I pulled myself in front of him, putting my back to Laurent who was now only ten feet from us. Forcing anger into my tone I yelled, "Dammit Jacob take a hint. I asked Laurent to meet me here so he could take me to Edward. I'm trying to run away, I just didn't want to hurt your feelings you silly little kid!" I realized that my words made no sense in the context of what we had already said, but I hoped that Jacob would be far away from here when he realized that.

Jacob glanced away from the vampire and when he made eye contact I saw that I had hurt him. Hopefully that would be enough, but then his expression clouded with confusion. "That doesn't make any sense, you didn't even know where this place was. Besides, you're obviously terrified of this guy."

My hope that I had managed to get Jacob to leave faded as I saw his eyes return to Laurent and his face harden. He pulled me behind him again. I tried to stay between him and Laurent but I couldn't resist his physical strength any more than I could Edward's.

Laurent laughed, a loud boisterous sound, carefree and completely at odds with the situation. "It seems that your friend refuses save himself. How noble."

The next thing I was aware of, was Jacob flying through the air and Laurent standing directly in front of me. The vampire had closed the distance between us and thrown Jacob in a movement to fast for me to see. I was frozen in place, and Edward was yelling at me so loudly that I barely heard the sickening thud of Jacob hitting the ground.

"Did Victoria ever find you?" I asked, breathless, desperate to distract him. It was the first question that popped into my head, and I regretted it as soon as the words were spoken. Victoria who had hunted me with James, and then disappeared. She was not someone I wanted to think of at this particular moment.

But the question did stop him. "Yes," he said. "I actually came here as a favour to her." He made a face. "She won't be happy about this."

"About what?" I said eagerly, inviting him to continue.

He smiled charmingly at me, "About me killing you."

Then he was on me, face buried in my neck. He was breathing me in, but didn't bite down yet. Instead he whispered, "I swear, if you knew what she had planned for you, you would be thanking me for this." Then I felt his teeth pierce my skin.

I whimpered in pain and my eyes sought out my best friend's body so I could at least think goodbye to him before I joined him. He had landed behind Laurent, nearly thirty feet from us.

I was surprised that instead of a broken body, my eyes focused on a tall Quileute boy getting slowly to his feet, eyes blazing with anger, body shaking like a cage that held a dangerous animal. Seeing him alive was enough to momentarily ease the growing burn of venom being pumped into my neck.

Even as I prayed that he would just run, I saw his weight shift forward into a hunting crouch that reminded me vaguely of Emmett when he sprang at Jasper. I was in too much pain to be surprised when he suddenly flew towards us. Halfway through the air his body seemed to explode. Before I could even process what I was seeing, some kind of furry monster tackled Laurent and I with all the subtlety of a freight train.

There was short scuffle as the Jacob-monster tore at the vampire on top of me. It was briefly interspersed with blinding pain when the Jacob's paws or teeth raked across me instead of Laurent.

Suddenly I saw the vampire's surprised expression as his head and shoulders were torn away from his rib cage. I wondered if he was even aware of what had just happened, the whole attack had lasted less than three seconds. That was last coherent thought I had before I descended into hell.


	2. Chapter 2

As usual, I don't own the characters.

Author's Note: Thanks for the reviews. This chapter is considerably more grafic and is actually the reason the story is rated mature. With that warning I'll mention that it is probably as explicit as the story will get.

Jacob's POV

The second Bella's 'friend' showed his face in the meadow I knew he was bad news. I'm normally a pretty easy going guy, but something about that freak just put my teeth on edge. I don't know why I thought it, but I knew he was wrong, unnatural.

At first I was a little jealous about Bella's reaction to him. She was looking at him like he was the most beautiful thing she had ever seen. While even I'll admit that he was pretty, for a guy, I was a little disappointed. It's just that I hadn't seen her look at anyone that way since Cullen left and I was kind of hoping that when she did, it would be me. Bella's smile disappeared pretty quickly when Laurent mentioned the departed family.

The way he spoke to Bella did nothing to help me relax. He was looking at her like she was a well cooked steak. I was surprised he wasn't drooling. Then Bella was saying something about going to find Edward, and that I should go home. She wasn't making any sense. Her words would have been more convincing if it hadn't been so obvious that she was terrified.

Whatever was going on between the two of them, there was no way in hell I was going to leave her alone with the sparkly freak and head back to the car. What kind of self respecting guy sparkles anyway? I figured I had at least fifty pounds on him and unless he was armed, he should be easy to take down. Boy was I wrong.

I had just managed to push Bella behind me when Laurent was running at me faster than anything I had ever seen. I was able to register one hand gripping my left arm like a vice, while he planted his other palm just below my navel. In a movement too fast for me to really process, he had hoisted me up over his head and let go. For a few seconds I was flying.

Laurent had managed toss me over thirty feet into the air as effortlessly as if I were a toy poodle. Through blind luck I was able to tuck into a kind of deformed front roll as I hit the soft earth of the meadow. It wasn't pretty, graceful, or really even intentional; but it did keep me from breaking any bones. I did however see stars for a few seconds. As soon as I could focus enough to move I rolled onto my stomach and tried to push myself up. Despite the fact that I should have felt scared, I wasn't. There just wasn't enough room in my skull for anything except a pulsing, burning rage that had been filling me since I had first laid eyes on Bella's 'friend'.

By the time I got to my feet instinct had completely taken over. There were maybe twenty feet separating me from the monster that had its face buried in Bella's neck. I leaped at them.

I had closed half the distance between us when the rage exploded outwards from my gut and I was filled with blinding pain. I'm certain that without the adrenaline now pumping through my system I would have passed out as I felt the sudden tearing and snapping of every bone and muscle in my body. Fortunately for Bella I stayed conscious and was able to tackle Laurent before he knew I was up. I tried to pull the monster off Bella, but something was wrong with my hands. They couldn't grip his stone flesh properly.

In desperation I went to bite into the things shoulder. I was surprised when I felt a spurt of fresh blood and the just a trace of raw meat in my mouth. This shock was quickly overwhelmed by rage when my jaws locked onto the stone skin of my enemy. I knew that I had the advantage and that not even his freakish strength could break my hold from this position. I was so consumed by what I was doing I didn't question how I knew these things, or why my body wasn't acting the way it was supposed to act. It was like I was riding a motorcycle at 300 miles per hour. I had almost no control all I could do was nudge this new strength in the right direction and hope nothing got in my way.

Bracing a hand against the cold body I tried to wrench it apart only to have my hand slip of as he struggled to get free. My nails slid through something soft and yielding underneath him. Whatever it was, it offered too little resistance to be earth, but my mind didn't dwell on the sensation. It took three more tries before the pads on my hands got enough traction to keep the Laurent from slipping away. I shook my mouth back and forth like a dog with a chew toy. Each time I heard a loud ripping/grinding sound, it brought to mind the image of great slabs of granite grinding against each other.

Suddenly Laurent's shoulders, head, and arms tore free of his lower torso and I was practically thrown off balance from the excessive force of my last jerk. Still filled with anger, and almost blinded by the pain of my aching muscles and bones, I tore at the still snapping head and arms until it lay in a half dozen pieces scattered across the meadow.

Even when the thing lay in pieces I still needed something to tear apart, some way of venting this anger. That monster deserved more pain than a quick death for what it had done to... "Bella."

The shear panic I suddenly felt at the thought of my friend lying on the ground dying was enough to push away the blinding boiling rage. I ran on all fours to get back to her. Without the anger I finally realized that something was very wrong with my body, that I had a snout instead of a mouth and nose, paws instead of hands.

I made it the her side only to watch helplessly as her ruined body writhed in pain. The left side of her face and body was covered in deep gashes from where my paws had tried to secure Laurent for dismemberment. Skin and flesh had actually been flayed away from the bone in several places, while the right corner of her neck was actually missing a misshapen chunk.

Laurent had held her to him so tightly that my teeth had taken it when they clamped down on him. I knew I had to stop the bleeding somehow, but for that I needed hands. Desperate and panicked I tried to think back to what Billy had told me about the old legends. Ever since my growth spurt started a few months ago he had been drilling them into me every chance he got me alone.

He had always said the shift was brought on by anger and I desperately hoped that calming down would be enough give me back my human shape. I closed my eyes and tried to breath evenly. At first it was worse than useless. My new, hyper sensitive ears heard every gurgling scream that came from Bella's broken body.

I nearly gave up three times, but after what felt like hours I finally felt the edges of the unnatural heat that was coursed through me. Somehow I managed to pull the inferno back into my body and squashed it down deep into my stomach.

When I opened my eyes I found myself once again human and naked as the day I was born. I looked around desperately for something to stop Bella's massive neck wound from bleeding. But was surprised to see that it was no longer gushing blood. In fact it was almost closed.

While I was glad she was no longer bleeding out, I realized that Bella was in a lot of trouble. Dad had said that if people survived being bitten by a cold one they would change into one. I ran my hand through my hair nervously, I needed to think.

Somehow dad had known this was going to happen to me. My body began shaking as my ever present anger spiked at the realization that he hadn't warned me. I ignored the thought that I wouldn't have believed him had he told me. I only barely managed to keep from phasing on top of Bella. If there was anyway of helping her, dad would know. I needed to get Bella to him.

If I remembered right he was spending the day at Charlie's watching the game. All I had to do was get Bella to him and she would be alright. Now that I had a plan I didn't feel so out of control. By this time Bella had stopped screaming, though her jaw was locked so tightly I could see the muscles bunched under the skin. "Bells," I paused, "I'm going to move you now, OK?"

She made no sign that she heard me, but I didn't have any other options. I lifted her as carefully as I could, but the moment I moved her she let out such an ear splitting scream. I nearly dropped her in shock. The sound made me sick to my stomach. Was this normal for a vampire bite? I had no idea, hadn't I read somewhere that you weren't supposed to move people when they were injured?

I contemplated putting her back down on the ground and going to find my dad but I couldn't leave her alone. I could practically feel her slipping away from me inch by inch, the small part of my mind that wasn't fighting off rage and panic whispered that it wasn't her that was slipping away, but some potential in her that was now no longer going to exist. A potential that left a hollow pit in my chest as it faded away.

With her held firmly to my chest I turned towards the border of the meadow and took off. I didn't know it was possible for a human to run as fast as I was sprinting down the mountain, but was glad I could. Maybe after Bella got better I would try joining the track team? It was easier to focus on these thoughts than the screams Bella let out each time I accidentally jostled her.

We emerged on the road twenty minutes after leaving the clearing and Bella was no better. True the cuts and gashes were now closed and scarred, but she was looking dangerously pale. I contemplated putting her in the truck bed, but quickly realized that with the ancient shocks on the Chevy she would be lucky not to get a concussion from being bounced around. I had just managed to seat-belt her into the passenger side when I realized that the keys were lying on the ground in the meadow; dropped when the vampire had thrown me.

"Fuck!" I screamed, loosing what little control I had on my anger. Before I knew what was happening my body exploded for the second time today. Again pain coursed through me and I needed to destroy something. Not giving a thought to the damage I could do to myself I ran at one of the larger trees that bordered the dirt road we had parked on. I threw my fury shoulder into it and watched the foot wide trunk splitter. As the tree fell into the thick woods I forced myself to calm down. Phasing back into a human was easier this time now that I knew what I needed to do.

Starting the Chevy without a key wasn't very difficult. I had done it a couple of times when I was rebuilding the engine. Quil, Embry, and I had thought we were such bad-asses once we learned how to hot wire a car. I almost laughed at the memory.

I ran back to the truck and was surprised to see that I had torn the door off the passenger side during my little temper tantrum. Despite the twisted metal that remained of the hinges, Bella looked like she hadn't been injured further.

I quickly got to the other side of the cab and slid in. It took less than a minute to find the proper wires and get the engine started.

I glanced over at Bella and said softly, "Just hang on Bells, dad will know how to help you."

She didn't show any sign of having heard me, just kept her jaw clenched tightly shut. I gunned it down the the roads of Forks, somehow getting seventy out of this old piece of crap. The truck was shaking so badly I wondered that it didn't explode. Ha, maybe the old Chevy and I had something in common.

We made it to Bella's house in under ten minutes. If she had had any close neighbours I wondered what they would think of a naked boy from the reservation dragging a bloody, mutilated, unconscious girl out of a mangled truck.

It was lucky Charlie hadn't locked his front door because I would have knocked the door down rather than wait for him to answer the doorbell. I ran through kitchen and stopped at the entrance to the den, Bella's tiny form cradled to my chest. Sure enough Charlie and dad were sitting in their usual places for the Saturday game.

They looked at us in complete shock, but dad's expression quickly began to show signs of comprehension. Without waiting for them to ask I said, "Dad, Bella needs help. She was bitten by a vampire."

Charlie's POV

I can honestly say that I didn't understand the meaning the word fear until Bella moved to Forks a little more than a year ago. I'm not saying that I regret having her here. When Renee left with her I was a mess. As much as I love my little girl, I have to admit that my heart can't take many more shocks before it decides to quit on me.

Only a month after arriving here she got hit by that delinquent Tyler's van. I can still remember driving to the hospital with my siren on, praying to a god I didn't really believe in that she would be alright. Then a few months later I get a call from Dr. Cullen saying that she fell down a flight of stairs in Pheonix and had a broken leg. Months after that she goes missing in the woods for a whole 26 hours until search dogs find her mumbling about Edward being gone. Then came the months it took Bella to get some semblance of life back.

That Cullen boy was lucky I couldn't track him down. I don't know what I would have done to him after what he did to Bella. Still, none of those incidents compared to seeing my daughter's mangled face covered in blood, pale to the point of being transparent, in the arms of a dirty, naked Jacob Black.

My mind went through every possible scenario. Had Jacob assaulted her? Had she been mauled by a bear? Both? However, before I could ask, Jacob shouted, "Dad, Bella needs help. She was bitten by a vampire."

The shear insanity of the statement was enough to bring me out of my shocked stupor. I quickly stood and went to take my daughter from the deluded boy. At first he seemed reluctant to let her out of his arms, but eventually he relaxed his hold and I was able to take Bella over to the couch. The small shift in her position caused Bella to scream. "Jesus, call 911 Billy." I yelled as I put Bella down on the couch as gently as possible. When I turned back to demand an explanation from Jacob I was surprised to find him next me, eyes focused on Bella's face. I hadn't even heard him move.

Instead of listening to me and picking up the phone next to him Billy looked to Jacob and asked, "Tell me exactly what happened."

Jake ran a hand through his hair and for the first time I noticed that he was pretty beat up as well. He was covered in scratches and gashes. There was a massive bruise forming on one of his shoulders as well as one at the base of his stomach. There was no way Bella could have inflicted that kind of damage, even in self defense. A tiny part of me was relieved that my best friend's son hadn't been the one to hurt her.

"I-I don't know," Jacob stumbled over his words. "We were hiking in the woods when Bella ran into this guy. I think he knew the Cullens. Bella was terrified of him. When I tried to keep him away from her he threw me twenty feet."

He looked back at Billy desperately, "Somehow I changed into a wolf like the old legends said. I got him off her, but he had already bitten her."

I didn't know what to think about Jake's explanation. The only thing that made any sense was that some friend of the Cullen's had tried to attack Bella. Shock could explain Jacob's story, but that didn't tell me why Billy wasn't dialling the cordless phone he now held in his lab. "Call the damn ambulance Billy!" I shouted.

"There's nothing they can do Charlie." Billy said miserably. He was looking at Bella with such a broken expression it was like she was already dead.

Before I could tell him to give me the phone Jacob asked, "But you can help her right? There has to be some kind of legend about fixing this. An exorcism or something?" He was kneeling next to the couch by now, holding Bella's uninjured right hand. His entire frame was shaking.

I couldn't believe it when Billy said, "I'm sorry Jacob, Charlie, but if we let the transformation continue Bella will turn into one of them in three days."

"So how do we stop it?" Jacob shouted.

Billy shook his head, "The only way to stop the transformation is if Bella doesn't live through it." He looked miserable as he said it, as if he believed every word he was saying.

I would have grabbed the phone from him and called the hospital myself but Jacob ran from the room. He made it to the kitchen before doubling over and collapsing to the floor. Well, he should have collapsed to the floor. Instead he exploded into a massive wolf and his front paws hit the linoleum gracefully.

That was enough to stop my brain right in it's tracks. Maybe Billy wasn't off his rocker. The wolf , Jake I guess, turned around to face us. Billy and I were frozen to the spot, instinctive fear of the massive predator keeping us rooted. The wolf closed it's eyes and there was a tense pause filled with Bella's ragged breathing and the wolf's massive pants. Suddenly the wolf was gone, somehow pulled back into Jake's relatively tiny form. His first words were calm and broached no argument, "I won't let you kill Bella, and neither will Charlie."

I turned away from Jake and glared at my old friend, "He's damn right you're not killing Bella."

Billy looked over to were my daughter lay on the couch and I knew he hated what he was saying as much as I did. "There's no other way Charlie. If Bella changes she'll turn into a monster. She'll kill innocent men and women and do to their families what the vampire has just done to you and Renee."

I stepped between him and the couch, "You're not going to touch her." There was not going to be a discussion on this.

Jake had come in from the kitchen and was leaning heavily on the door frame. He looked like he was in a hell of a lot of pain, "What about the Cullens dad? You always said they fed on animals, maybe Bella can do that too?"

Billy shook his head, "You know the legends Jacob. When she wakes there will be no control, just mindless feeding. She will kill any human she can, even you or Charlie. It won't be Bella any more."

Jacob clenched his jaw and walked over where I stood next to Bella. He knelt down next to her and gently took one of her hands. He looked at her helplessly, "You can't kill her just because I wasn't strong enough to keep her safe. If it's too dangerous to keep her here I can take her somewhere far from people." He paused, "The vampire said the Cullen place is abandoned. That's about as isolated a place as we'll find in Forks."

Billy didn't look happy with that idea and I was feeling very out of the loop. The Cullens were vampires? What the hell was going on? Like Jake, I couldn't take my eyes off my daughter. Under all the dirt and blood, all that was left of her ordeal where vicious looking scars. But she was clearly in pain. I wanted to ask Billy for more information on the monster that did this to her, find out how I could make her more comfortable.

Billy spoke before I could ask, "Jacob, did you burn the pieces of the vampire?"

Jake looked away from Bella, and shook his head, "No but I think it was dead."

Billy looked tired, "You need to go back and make sure." At his son's mutinous expression he added, "I promise I won't hurt Bella, but you need to burn the pieces before it puts itself back together." Billy looked to me and asked, "You have any lighter or starter fluid?" I nodded and he said, "Good. We need to make sure it can't put itself back together."

I reluctantly left Bella's side and grabbed the bottle of flammable liquid from the stairwell that led down to our basement. Billy slid the backpack off the back of his chair and tossed it to me. It felt good doing something other than staring at Bella helplessly. After packing the lighter fluid I went to the kitchen to retrieve the barbecue starter. Clicking it a few times to make sure it worked I packed that too. When I came back to the living room I handed the bag to Jake. Somewhat uncertainly I asked, "Need a pair of pants?"

Jacob shook his head and looked a little embarrassed. When he spoke his tone was soaked in bitterness "I don't think I can stay human long enough to keep from shredding them."

Jake looked back at my daughter and for a second I wondered if he would willingly leave her side. I put my hand on his shoulder and said, "Don't worry Jake, I'll keep her safe."

He gave me a weak, bitter smile and headed for the back door. I watched him put down bag once outside and begin trembling. In seconds he had exploded into a shaggy russet wolf. He then picked up the pack with his mouth and ran into the woods.

I turned back to see Billy watching the spot where his son had disappeared into the trees sadly. After a minute I stated, "I think it's time you told me what you've been hiding from me about my daughter."

Billy sighed and explained about the cold ones, the Cullens, and the fact that Bella had known all about them. While we waited for Jacob to get back I tried to clean Bella as best I could, but didn't do a particularly good job. Eventually Billy called Harry and Sue to come over. Harry to discuss what the council would do to protect the tribe from Bella and Sue to help clean Bella's injuries.

Both of the Clearwaters did their best to convince me that Bella was better off dead than a vampire, but there was not going to be a discussion about euthanizing my eighteen year old daughter because she had contracted a mythical curse. If I hadn't seen Jacob turn into a wolf before my very eye I would have ignored Billy completely, taken Bella to the hospital, and shot anyone that got in my way. I held onto the hope that she wouldn't become a monster; if a spoiled little rich boy like Edward Cullen could avoid killing humans, then I was sure Bella would be fine.

As I watched Bella shake and scream on the couch, I contemplated getting a stake and holy water to deal with the little punk who had pulled Bella into his world. Those worked on vampires, right?

It was after dark when Jacob finally got back. Harry and Sue were a little alarmed to see him walk into the house buck naked, but I think he may have been too tired to realize that he wasn't wearing clothes. As he walked by us he mumbled something about the sucker being toasted. Without another word he curled up on the floor in the den, and leaned his side against the couch where Bella was lying. He was tall enough that even sitting on the floor he was able to rest his head against her side.

I had a feeling that like him, I wouldn't be leaving her alone much over the next couple of days either.


	3. Pain

Disclaimer:None of the characters belong to me.

Author's Note: This chapter is quite short, but it ends where it needs to. Thanks to those who reviewed, next chapter should be up in a little while.

Bella's POV

I wish I could say that what was happening to me could be called burning alive, but that would be the wrong word for it. Fire couldn't hurt like this. In fact I was fairly sure that the human mind was designed to shut down when exposed to this kind of pain.

While thinking was almost impossible in this mindless inferno, I could hang onto individual thoughts for short periods of time.

I couldn't understand how this was happening. Laurent had been killing me, there was no question there. He had absolutely no motivation to pull back from the feeding. I tried to remember what had happened. It didn't make any sense, somehow Jake must have pulled Laurent off. Maybe he had had a rush of adrenaline like those mothers you hear about who make a habit of lifting cars off their kids. An image of him exploding into a furry monster seemed to be burned onto my retina, but that had to be some kind of pain induced hallucination.

I felt my body spasm and I was vaguely aware that I was screaming again. A face flashed in front of my mind. It was Jake looking down on me, a panicked expression on his face. I was vaguely aware that I must be in too much agony for my brain to correctly process what my eyes were seeing. Jake looked so upset, he must not have a clue about what was happening to me. I tried to focus on not screaming so much, it gave me something to keep my mind on other than burning alive. It didn't help anything, but it kept me from going insane.

Had James' bite hurt this much? It couldn't have, otherwise how could I have wanted Edward to do this to me on purpose. It was hard to believe that there was enough room in my brain left to actually feel more pain, but I still felt the familiar tearing where my chest should have been at the thought of Edward Cullen.

Did that mean I would be stuck like this for eternity? Edward had said that once a vampire fell in love, that was it. They would never loose that passion. What had once been a wonderful aspect of being a vampire now made me shudder. Over the past months, Jacob had made life bearable. I could actually admit to myself that I was more or less happy when I spent time with him, and I had been improving slowly but surely.

I could have spent a human lifetime like that, slowly getting better. Maybe one day the condemned hovel that was my life could have been fixed to the point of being livable again. But the thought of spending an eternity with this crushing loneliness, never getting over Edward... It hurt almost as much as this searing fire that was coursing through my body. I didn't kid myself, even if my looks were improved with this transformation, Edward had made it very clear that he didn't have that kind of interest in me. I wouldn't be some undying puppy dog chasing after him, hurting his chances at actually finding someone he could care about like I cared about him.

Since suicide was apparently quite difficult for a vampire, that left me with one option. Let him go. That realization didn't really help me, how do you just let someone go when you'd been mourning them for months? How do you let them go when a large part of you really doesn't want to?

Almost as if it were an answer to a prayer I heard his voice. It was more clear than ever before, in fact I could even picture his face as if he were standing in front of me. For a second his incredible beauty was enough to block out the burning of the venom. He gently brought a hand to my cheek and whispered, "Be happy Bella."

I was able to nod once. I could do this, I needed to stop clinging to the ghost of a man who wouldn't come back. I let him fall away from me, his image and voice immolated by the same flames that were tearing me apart. It hurt more than the fire to watch him go.

The slight reprieve from the inferno his presence had given me only made the pain all the worse when it returned. I no longer tried to hold back my screams of agony. I let the pain swallow up my grief praying that when it ended I would be able to move on from my beautiful angel.

The pain wore on and on and on. I was vaguely aware that I wasn't alone. I was almost sure that I could feel at least one or two people with me at all times. I was vaguely aware that they were Charlie and Jake, but my senses couldn't tell me anything with certainty, they were being abused so badly.

I was never certain when Charlie was there and when he wasn't. It was like telling night from day while hiding in a cave.

Jake's presence however was like a flash bulb going off in a dark room. When he took my hand, or rested his head against my side, or ran his hand over my forehead I was actually able to feel that part of my body, I was no longer lost in a void. His caustic heat caused the pain where he made contact to increase almost unbearably. Rather than shy away from the discomfort I clung to it; he was my safe harbor, he kept me sane while Armageddon rained down on me. I was hanging onto the edge of a burning building. Jake was the narrow white hot ledge that kept me from falling to my death.

I don't know how long the transformation took, but slowly the pain receded from my limbs until it was entirely focused on my heart. The organ pumped my thickened blood faster and harder until it felt like it was going to explode. Then with unbelievable relief, it stopped.


	4. Waking

Disclaimer:I don't own any of these characters:(

Author's Note: Here's a meatier chunk to read, hope you enjoy. If you are enjoying then I hope you review, it does help keep an author motivated.

**Waking**

Bella's POV

For a few seconds all I could take in was the sudden lack of physical pain. It was like I was free falling. I couldn't help but giggle, momentarily overwhelmed by a sudden euphoria. My mood was disrupted by two things. The first was a horrible smell that my body instantly labelled as a threat; my muscles tensed like a rabbit when it sights a hawk. This confused me, after all I was now a vampire, pretty much top of the food chain. How could I be afraid of anything?

The second was processed at the same time by my now multi-layered mind. It was the sound of a panicked voice, "She's waking up early, get out of here." My new hearing made it difficult to recognize the voice. The only thing I could compare it to were the muffled sounds that my human ears had processed before the change. I smiled when I realized that it was Jake. All these thoughts took place in a fraction of a second. It was unnerving just how quickly my brain was working now.

The happiness at correctly placing my friend's voice was immediately replaced by horror. I was a newborn, Jake was a human. I quickly halted my breath and clapped my hands over my mouth and nose. Shooting up into a sitting position I looked around desperately.

I was lying on the leather couch in the Cullens' sitting room. I was wearing my favourite pyjama bottoms and a tank top. Someone must have changed my clothes while I transformed. I wondered if Cullens had returned, but quickly ruled that out. Everything besides the couch was covered in white sheets, protecting them from dust. I waited for the gaping hole in my chest to force me to double over in pain at the thought of them, but instead of searing emptiness, there was only a hollow ache. Like my memories of my human life, the pain was dulled just enough that it was bearable.

The next thing I noticed was Jacob standing protectively between me and the main entrance of the room. He was wearing a pair of muddy sweat pants and no shirt. Behind him, almost eclipsed my his bulk -had he always been that big?- was Charlie. The two humans were frozen where they stood.

Jake's eyes locked with mine. Without looking away he hissed at Charlie in what was supposed to be a quiet whisper, "Get out of here Charlie. I'll make sure she calls you when it's safe."

Charlie looked at me, obviously not wanting to leave. I removed one hand from my face, while keeping the other welded there. With my free hand I desperately gestured for him to leave. Charlie nodded once and backed through the door slowly. I shifted my eyes back to Jake trying to get him to go too.

But his reaction was just plain odd. He obviously knew what I was, his concern for Charlie was proof of that, but he wasn't afraid of me. Now that my dad was gone Jacob's heartbeat was already returning to a calm steady beat. The sound of the pulsing organ drew me in like the moon pulling the tide. I couldn't look away from the pulse point throbbing in Jacob's neck.

I felt venom flood my mouth and my hand dropped away from my face unconsciously. Jake seemed to realize what I was thinking because he brought up his hands and said, "Bella listen to me. You don't need to feed on humans. I saw seven deer just across the river this morning."

I only listened to him with a tiny fraction of my mind. To be honest, he could have been declaring his undying love for Emmett and I wouldn't have blinked. What did make me stop however was the smell that filled my nostrils when I inhaled. Instead of the enticing ambrosia I had imagined, I was surprised with the same overwhelming stench I had smelt earlier. I realized with a shock that the smell came from Jacob. Thirst momentarily forgotten, I pinched my nose and gagged. A leftover vestige of my humanity. "God you stink Jacob" It was true, he smelt like a dog. It was repellent, and nowhere near as tempting as the whiffs of Charlie that were left in the room.

Jacob's worried expression cracked with a smile, "Can't say you smell much better Bells."

I nearly smiled but my good mood was suddenly replaced by curiosity, "Why don't you smell human Jacob?"

Jacob's face fell and he looked out the window angrily. "Dad wasn't as crazy as I thought he was." He paused then added, "Turns out I'm a werewolf." He smiled bitterly, the expression didn't look right on his face. The expression was so much harder and angrier than the old carefree smile that should have been there.

At a loss as to what I should say I settled on an awkward, "I'm sorry."

Jacob shrugged with forced nonchalance, "It's not your fault Bella. Besides it's worth it." At my blank look he added, "Who do you think killed Laurent?" He didn't even try to hide his smugness.

My mouth hung open, "Laurent's dead?"

Jacob grinned, "Ashes in the wind." His expression then turned sad again, "I'm sorry I wasn't fast enough to help you."

He looked so lost that I unconsciously shifted froward from where I was sitting on the couch. I would have reached out to him, but I noticed the way his body tensed at my movement. Instead I settled for saying, "It's okay Jacob. If you hadn't been there I would be dead. You saved my life."

Rather than answer, Jacob glanced down at the left side of my face, his expression pinched with guilt. I wondered if I had something stuck there. I unconsciously reached my hand to check, but before it made it to my face I saw the long scars that covered my upper arm. That didn't make sense. Wasn't the venom supposed heal everything? Emmett had been mauled by a bear and he didn't have a mark to show for it.

"Bella, I..." I was out of the room before he could finish the thought. My hazy human memories led me to the Cullens' bathroom. The mirror above the sink wasn't covered in a dust protectors like the wooden furniture in the den and I was instantly assaulted with my new face. The face that would be with me for the rest of my existence.

The fact that something had gone wrong during the change was horribly clear. Something about Jacob's nails and teeth had kept my injuries from healing correctly. The left side of my face was a mess, three claw marks cut their way from above the left eye, down across my cheek before curving off towards my ear at a sharp angle. One of the scars had cut across my lips and the skin had healed imperfectly. The two edges hadn't healed together quite right and were slightly puckered. The right side of my face was undeniably beautiful, to the point where I barely recognized myself. It was pale and perfect, only marred by the freakish red eye staring back at me. Unfortunately this perfection only served to make the left side all the worse in contrast.

There were more scars along my left arm and possibly some hidden under the tank top I was wearing. Thankfully my right side seemed mostly unmarked with exception of a thick mass of scar tissue on my shoulder at the base of my neck. I absently brought my hand and felt the soft tissue that was about three inches long and an inch wide.

I turned to see Jacob watching me from the door, his expression miserable. I vaguely remembered the furry monster Jake had turned into pulling Laurent off me, and the pain that had accompanied it. Before he could say anything I interrupted him. "It's alright Jacob." I could break down later, right now Jacob looked like he was about to start crying.

It looked like he was going to object so I hesitantly inched towards him and, when he didn't cringe, wrapped my arms around his waist in a gentle hug. I carefully leaned my head against his chest and listened to his heart beating. Some small corner of my mind was screaming about the burning pain in my throat, but I was able to ignore it. Instead I said, "It's just a few scars, it's better than being a pretty looking corpse."

My attempt at humour fell flat, but Jake shuddered and wrapped his massive arms around my small frame. Burying his head in the top of my hair he whispered, "I'm so happy that you're okay. I haven't been able to sleep for the past two days."

Despite the smell, and my instincts yelling at me that Jacob was a threat, I felt a certain amount of comfort being held so close to Jacob's caustic heat. If he wasn't going to let being mortal enemies get in the way of our friendship then why should I? I was vaguely aware that I shouldn't be acting this way, Edward had always said that newborns lost all their humanity for the first year. I wonder what was wrong with me that I could still think coherently. I felt my chest tighten at the thought of him but managed to push the ache away.

After a few minutes Jacob let me go and asked, "Want to hunt?"

Now that he reminded me of my thirst I couldn't ignore the burning in my throat. Hurriedly stepping back from my friend I once again forced myself to stop breathing. I nodded and Jacob grinned. Taking my hand he guided me towards the back door of the house. When we were outside facing the forest he let me go and said, "Don't turn around."

My thirst was burning so intensely I didn't question him. Still I was startled when I heard a deep bark from behind me. Spinning around I was shocked to see a massive russet wolf standing there. The beast's shoulder was slightly taller than me and I didn't understand how all of it could fit inside Jake. A pair of discarded sweats were lying on the ground underneath it, and it was looking at me with eyes that held too much intelligence to belong in an animal's face.

"Jake?" I asked.

The wolf nodded, then walked past me towards the river and woods that lay behind the Cullen property. Looking back at me I could have sworn he grinned before taking off. Smiling at the childish behaviour I chased after him.

I saw Jake reach the river and leap across it in a single bound. Reaching the edge I leaped as far as I could, easily clearing the other bank, sailing over Jake's head. By the time I hit the ground he had caught up to me. I guess the four legs allowed him to accelerate faster than my two.

As I followed Jake deeper into the forest I realized that we were following a musky animal scent. Suddenly I spotted a cluster of five deer through the trees. Realizing that this was my intended meal, I quickly tackled one of herbivores. The smell was horrible, in fact Jake was more appetizing, still between this and killing humans there wasn't much choice.

Holding my breath I bit into the deer's neck. The blood wasn't too bad once it was flowing and I quickly finished it. All too soon the animal was dry. I glanced up when I heard a snorting sound coming from wolf-Jake. I quickly realized that he was laughing at me! "What?" I asked slightly annoyed.

Jake's eyes fell to my arms and legs that were wrapped around the deer in a slightly indecent fashion. Quickly shoving the carcass away, I stood with as much dignity as I could muster. I glanced down at myself I was embarrassed to see that I was covered in blood, mud, and animal hair. My pyjama bottoms were torn to shreds and my tank top wasn't in very good shape either.

I looked over at Jake's feet and saw that his deer was barely touched. He had managed to chew through one of the legs, but had given up there. Noticing my stare he nudged the corpse towards me.

"Not hungry?" I asked.

Jake shook his shaggy head. I eyed the mangled animal with distaste. It looked even less appetizing than its friend had alive but I was still hungry so I grabbed the corpse and drained what was left.

When I was done I couldn't say that I felt satisfied, but I did feel full. I could feel the blood sloshing around in my stomach. Now that the thirst had been pushed back I realized I had no idea what had happened the past couple of days.

Dropping the now empty carcass I looked over to where Jake sat and said, "I guess we should talk."

Jake nodded and the two of us headed back to the Cullen's house. I waited inside while Jake shifted back to a human form.

He explained what had happened the past couple of days. How he and Charlie had broken into the Cullen's house to keep me from hurting anyone. (It seems that finding out the Cullens were vampires was enough to keep Charlie from feeling guilty about the break in.) Jake told me about the legends and how he had trouble maintaining his human form. It seemed like his past couple of days had been almost as bad as mine.

After he was done it was my turn. I managed to explain what had happened with the Cullens and who Laurent was. Jacob lost control when I told the story of James hunting me. It took nearly two minutes for Jacob to calm down enough to become human again. He had managed to destroy his last pair of sweats and ended up using the couch's dust cover as an improvised toga.

We finished long after sunset and Jacob was starting to look a little loopy. After a massive yawn he asked, "Jeez Bella, aren't you tired?"

I shook my head, "Vampires don't sleep." Jake's reaction to this was cut off by another yawn. Feeling guilty about keeping him up so late I said, "Go ahead and sleep Jake. I'll be fine."

Jake shook his head in an attempt to stay awake, "Fine, but don't wander off, I promised dad I would keep an eye on you."

I smiled bitterly. I guess I wouldn't be welcome on the Quileute reservation anymore. Almost immediately Jacob's breathing slowed and evened out. I watched as the lines of stress and anger eased away, leaving the face of the boy I had known. It was hard to believe that only three days ago my biggest concern was getting over a breakup and trying to keep my best friend from falling in love with me.

Now that I was alone I had to try and find something to do with my time other than mope around. I spotted my dad's cell phone on the coffee table and decided I would call him. Jake said Charlie had been terrified for the past two days and I figured that I should at least let him know that I was alright.

Moving without making a sound I took the phone and snuck into the kitchen. I didn't want to wake Jacob but my concern my have been unwarranted. I was pretty sure he would be dead to the world for the next ten hours.

I flipped the phone open and noticed that it was only nine o'clock. I dialled home and was surprised when a woman picked up on the first ring with a worried, "Jake?"

Confused I answered, "Hello."

"Bella?" The woman asked, then continued with a panicked, "It's Sue Clearwater, is Jacob alright?" I heard the unspoken 'did you hurt him?'

"Jake's fine, he's just asleep." Sue muttered 'thank heavens' under her breath and I continued. "Is my dad there Sue?"

"Oh, of course. Let me pass you to him." She sounded slightly flustered and I had to wonder what she thought of the whole situation. Would she accept me for what I was now? Or would she label me as just another cold one?

My slightly morose musings were interrupted when I heard my dad ask, "Bella?"

"Hi dad." I answered slightly self consciously.

"Is that really you Bella." He asked in disbelief.

"Of course it's me."

Charlie sounded embarrassed, "Your voice is different."

I laughed a little, I guess I did sound a lot more like Alice than I used to. I wasn't really sure what to say to him. After all I had been hiding so much from him since I had met the Cullens, where could I start? I decided to go for the obvious apology, "I'm sorry dad."

Charlie tsked into the phone, "Don't you dare try and take the blame for this Bella. It's not your fault you were attacked. I'm happy putting the blame on Cullen." He didn't even bother trying to hide the anger in his tone.

I wrapped my free arm around myself and sighed heavily. Charlie needed to stop blaming Edward for everything that went wrong in my life. "It's not his fault dad. He did everything he could to keep me safe. He saved my life more than once, and warned me repeatedly to stay away from him."

There was a long silence that Charlie finally broke, "Look Bella, I know he saved you from getting hit by that van, and normally that would put him in my good books, but he hurt you." I wanted to speak up, but Charlie was being unusually talkative. "I don't know what he said to you in those woods Bella but I've never seen anyone as bad off as you were. He hurt you and that's not something I can forgive."

"Dad..." I drew the word out tiredly.

"Look Bella, I'm just glad you're alright and I'm glad Jake's able to look after you. Everyone says you're too dangerous to be around." From his tone I could tell he didn't quite believe it. I needed to make sure he understood the danger and didn't come by.

"They're right dad. Jake's probably the only person in Forks that doesn't smell like food. It really isn't safe for me to be around people for a while."

I heard Charlie sigh heavily, "I was hoping Billy was exaggerating about that part. How long do you think it will be until it's safe for me to see you?"

I wasn't sure, but I quoted the number the Cullens gave me, "I think Edward said I would be dangerous for about a year, I'm not sure why." I heard Charlie's jaw clench no doubt biting his tongue, not wanting to say something that would set me off. Hearing some murmuring in the background I asked, "Is Billy there with you?"

"Yeah, Billy, Sue, and Harry have been here since Jake brought you in. Sue's the one who made all the food at the Cullens'."

I frowned. "What food?"

"She packed the fridge with meals for Jake. That boy's been eating like he's got a hollow leg."

I gave a tentative sniff and realized the air was filled with the odours of various meals. It was odd feeling absolutely no draw to them. There was a lull in the conversation and finally Charlie asked, "What did you and Jake get up to today?"

"Jake took me out hunting." I briefly wondered what my dad would think of that. He knew how much I hated fishing when I was a kid.

"Did you catch anything good?" His question seemed uncertain.

"We managed to get a couple of deer." I paused then added, "They didn't taste very good." It was odd, now that I was being honest with my father I found myself saying more than I wanted to.

"Unhuh..." Charlie answered uncertainly.

Suddenly a thought occurred to, "What are we going to tell Renee?"

Charlie answered without hesitating, "She got the story the rest of the town did. You and Jake were attacked by a bear, and you're in a hospital up in Vancouver recovering."

I nodded, I would have to get a computer and e-mail her to keep her from panicking and trying to visit. There was a slightly awkward pause and I finally said, "I guess I'll let you go dad. I'll call tomorrow."

Charlie seemed to agree, "Glad you're alright. Love you Bella."

"Love you too dad." We both hung up.

After talking to Charlie I stood in the kitchen silently for a long time. Not bothering to turn on the light, I contemplated my life. I was a vampire. I was badly scarred from when my best friend saved my life. My best friend was now a werewolf.

Oddly enough that last issue was a lot more comforting than it should have been. Without the Cullens around I had no idea how to be a vampire. Like Jacob, I didn't have anyone to show me the ropes in this new life. Sure, Billy knew the tribe legends and I remembered what the Cullens had told me, but it wasn't the same as having someone there who had gone through it before.

I felt slightly guilty at the realization that part of me was happy Jacob had changed with me. I was well aware that Jacob hated what he was now, but at least we could try and figure out this whole monster thing together. Me learning to deal with the blood lust, Jacob with accepting his new out of control temper.

I wrapped my arms around myself, shuddering at the thought of just waking into this world alone with no support whatsoever.

Quietly moving back to the Cullens' living room I curled up next to Jacob on the couch. He shivered at the coolness of my skin, but didn't wake. Jacob's slightly painful heat was enough to chase away the loneliness and fear. I was glad that his ability to hold me together hadn't been one of the things we had lost with our humanity.

Laying my head against his shoulder I closed my eyes and pretended to sleep.


	5. Temper

**Dsclaimer:** Still don't own any of these characters:(

**Author's Note:**Sorry for the wait it took a bit longer than expected for my Beta to get the chapter back to me. Anyway hope you enjoy, today we get to deal with some of Bella's newborn emotions. As alway reviews appreciated. Curious what you think of it.

**Questions: ** To those who want to know if the Cullen's will be showing up. My answer is yes of course they will (Can't have Twilight without Cullens) . The Cullens minus Edward will enter in part two while the Cullens plus Edward enter in part 3. I'm fairly sure the way I bring them into the story hasn't been done and I hope the readers will get a kick out of it.

JACOB'S P.O.V.

The day after Bella finished changing I woke from the first real sleep I'd been able to have in almost sixty hours. The sun was streaming in through the windows of the Cullens' living room. It was an unusually nice day for Forks.

My joints and muscles still ached enough from the transformation to make me shake, but it was nowhere near as bad as it had been for the first couple of days. Dad had promised that the pain would go away completely in a few weeks. Well that was something at least.

Once again the unfairness of this whole mess just made me want to tear something apart. I began to shake and quickly ran for the nearest exit. I let the sheet that was covering me fall away before I even made it outside. I just managed to get clear of the house before the heat expanded from my center causing me to explode into a wolf. I panted heavily for a few seconds letting myself calm a little before trying to shift back. It only took a few seconds to get my human form back this time. I felt smile slip onto my face, that time it had almost been easy.

Turning back to the house I saw Bella standing in the door holding a frying pan. I quickly ducked behind one of the shrubs in the front lawn, a little embarrassed about being seen naked. When I looked back at the door Bella was gone and I wondered what she was thinking.

I was contemplating running to Charlie's and bumming another pair of sweats, but before I could make a decision Bella's arms reappeared in the doorway holding a neatly folded pair of sweatpants. She put it down on the stoop and shouted, "These might fit you." She then disappeared inside.

I waited a second to make sure she was out of eyesight before running up to the house. I was more than a little embarrassed, and unfolded the pants hastily. The scent that wafted off them caught me by surprise. Being outside in the fresh air had already destroyed my tolerance for Bella's icy-sweet smell. These pants had obviously belonged to one of the leeches because a similar stench still clung to them. Unfortunately, I didn't have many options; I couldn't exactly run around naked.

Slipping them on, I frowned when the legs barely reached my calves. I wondered if I would ever stop growing. I followed Bella's smell to the kitchen where she was very focused on a pan of eggs she was cooking on the stove. The scarred side of her body was facing me and I was hit with a visceral memory of my teeth and claws tearing up her fragile human body. I shuddered, and tried to shake off the memory. I wondered if I would ever be able to look at her again without feeling like a pile of shit for what I had done.

Still, my body had needs and while Bella's scent had masked the smell of food, now that I saw the eggs, I was ravenous. Spotting a plate already piled high with bacon I grinned, glad to be distracted. "You're the best Bella."

Bella didn't look up from the stove. If it were still physically possible I'm sure she would be beet red. She must have caught an eyeful when I had phased back. I took the plate of bacon and began packing it away. The taste was awful, it had been slightly infused with the vampire stink and made my eyes water. Luckily, I was so hungry that my stomach didn't complain. When I was done, Bella slid the eggs onto my plate and I finished them off as well. I was still starving but the edge of my hunger was blunted. Grinning over at Bella I said, "Sorry about flashing you earlier. I still can't stay calm enough to stay human."

Bella finally looked at me and smiled, "I'm just glad Emmett's pants fit you."

There was an awkward pause between us. I still wasn't sure how I felt about everything I had learned about Bella's relationship with Cullen. I mean I knew she had a thing for dangerous sports, but dating a vampire? Did she have a death wish? Finally I said, "So Charlie and Harry are setting up a place for you to stay on Quileute land. Apparently there's an abandoned hunting cabin that's far enough away from the population to be safe." I briefly remember dad mentioning he and his friends using it when they were younger.

Bella nodded absentmindedly and said, "It felt a bit weird staying here without the Cullens' permission."

I shrugged, not really caring about offending the leeches. "By the time Billy explained the treaty to me you were already here." I shuddered. "You were screaming so much that we didn't want to risk moving you again."

Bella looked off into space. When she spoke I think it was more to herself than to me, "Charlie didn't mention that."

"You went to see him!?" I yelled in surprise. How could she have been that irresponsible? My ever present temper surged.

Bella looked indignant, "I called him, Jake. On a phone. I know the risks of seeing him."

"Oh." I said a bit sheepishly. Realizing that I had jumped to my feet, I sat and mumbled, "Sorry." I hated the temper that came along with being a wolf; it was so hard to keep myself from snapping at everyone.

Bella dumped the pan she had been cooking with into the sink angrily. Without speaking she began to scrub the dish forcefully. I could hear the metal of the pan and sink creek and groan under her efforts.

I watched uncomfortably as Bella cleaned the breakfast dishes. I felt like I should offer to help, but to be honest I was a little scared of interrupting her. Intellectually I knew this was Bella, that she was my friend, more if she would let me. But the wolf forced me to see her as a threat, unnatural, it warned me to keep my distance, bide my time until I could attack- I squashed down that line of thinking. This was Bella, I wouldn't be attacking her. Pushing aside my body's aversion, I stood and put my hand on her frigid shoulder, "I know you wouldn't go see Charlie until we knew it was safe."

Bella nodded absently and said in her abnormally high clear voice, "Sure, sure."

I realized that I had managed to really hurt Bella with my accusation. Searching for a distraction of some kind I settled on the first thing that came to mind, "Want to check out the forest? See just how fast we can run?" As soon as I spoke I realized that this was something I had really been looking forward to trying. Up till now I had been so terrified by Bella's transformation that I hadn't really gotten to explore what it meant to be a werewolf. To see just what I could do. "Come on," I whined, "Be a responsible pet owner. You fed me, now it's time for my walk."

I was rewarded with a small smile and grinned, "I knew I could get a smile out of you Bells." I then took off out of the kitchen.

Bella's P.O.V.

Jacob and I only stayed at the Cullens' house for three days. The place was just too eerie without the Cullens present for me to feel comfortable there. Jacob quickly ate through everything Sue had dropped off before I woke. When Jacob was awake we would run through the vast forests that surround La Push and Forks, making very sure to stay away from hiking trails, campsites, and logging areas.

One of the first things Jacob did after he was rested was borrow an electric hair clipper and buzz off all of his hair. I was disappointed to see it go, but understood that Jacob needed to do it if he wanted to avoid tripping all over himself while he was phased. Without his hair he was hardly recognizable as the same Jacob from a week ago. He was taller, more muscular and looked older. He could have easily pulled off being twenty five instead of sixteen.

While Jacob slept I did anything I could to pass the time. I called Renee a couple of times to assure her that I was alright and that there was no need to come and visit. It was close, but she eventually backed down. She didn't even comment on how different my voice sounded.

I considered asking Charlie to try getting my homework from Angela so Jacob could pick it up for me. But I didn't really see the point. If my life ended up anything like the Cullens' then I would be attending high school more times than I could possibly care to. Instead, I asked Jacob to pick up a collection of books from the Forks public library. Reading them helped pass the time when most normal people slept.

As difficult as it was to adapt to no longer sleeping I had to admit that it was nice not waking to the sound of my own screams. Like my mental picture of Edward, the details of the nightmares that had plagued me as a human were fading around the edges.

Sometimes I would panic when I felt like I was loosing my memories of Edward. They were all I had left of him and even though he was painful to remember, I never wanted to forget him completely. As much as I cared for Jacob, and as grateful as I was for his help; a large part of me still wished it was Edward here guiding me through this.

Still, it wasn't all bad. The entire world was a new place. The colors, the smells, the sounds. It was like I had been wrapped in a fuzzy cotton shell my entire life and was only now seeing the world. I could spend hours sitting in a tree listening to the forest at night.

But that was nothing compared to the running. My dim memories of the motorcycles had nothing on the speeds Jacob and I reached while we chased each other along the perimeter of Forks and La Push. Feeling the trees whip by at over ninety miles an hour was almost enough to make this whole mess worth it.

It was Friday afternoon, almost a week after I found Edward's meadow that Jacob came back from Charlie's with a backpack full of letters and books. He came out of the woods at the edge of the Cullens property in his now trademark black sweatpants. This was the seventh pair he had gone through. Fortunately his dad had bought over a dozen at the Wallmart in Seattle. He grinned and said, "Guess what?"

I stood from where I had been sitting on the porch and returned his infectious grin with a weak smile of my own, "What?"

"Come on Bells, you need to guess." He whined like an excited child.

This time time I gave him a real smile and I huffed, "Fine, but you just lost a couple of years off your imaginary age." I absently noted how the skin on the left side of my face pulled unevenly from the scars, Jacob didn't seem to notice. I was surprised how quickly he had gotten used to the marks, that or he was really good at pretending he didn't notice them. I decided I may as well indulge his game, "Did another group of hikers mistake you for a bear?"

Jacob rolled his eyes and laughed, "Come on Bella you're not even trying." I guessed a few more times until Jacob finally gave in and told me. "Charlie and Harry finished up your new digs. Charlie said you could move in tonight."

Before I could help it I frowned. True I felt strange squatting it the Cullens' house, but it had given me some familiarity. Jake saw my expression and I tried to give him an encouraging smile. "I guess we should clean this place up before we head out."

"Sure sure," Jake nodded. It didn't take long to clean up after ourselves. I packed the few changes of clothes Jacob had brought over in a backpack while he put the Tupperware that had stored his meals into a large garbage bag for transport.

Before long we left the house and began the long run to Billy's abandoned hunting cabin.

It was almost six by the time we found the small building. It was tiny, maybe twelve feet on a side and only slightly larger than my bedroom back home. From the outside it looked like a stiff breeze could knock it over.

I heard Jacob come up behind me on human feet. "Wow, guess we'll have to fix her up a bit." He clapped a hand down on my shoulder. I should have guessed he would see the run down building as a new project. Sometimes I envied his optimism.

Jacob fished a key out of the pocket of his sweatpants and handed it to me. I went up to the small door and unlocked it. Even from outside the smell of cleaner was overpowering. Unfortunately the lemony disinfectant couldn't block out the delicious smell of human. Venom filled my mouth, but I managed to force the thirst back. I pushed open the door and glanced inside. My new and improved vision meant I could make out all but the darkest corner of the small room without difficulty.

Unlike the outside of the building, the inside was clean and tidy. The walls were unfinished, the plywood of the outer wall was exposed and I could make out the nails that held the siding poke through at regular intervals. A couple of butane camping lanterns I recognized from Newton's were hanging from the joists.

There was little in the way of furniture. A small cot was set up in the corner of the room along the left wall with a dresser next to it. I recognized the dresser as the one from my room at Charlie's and wondered how he had gotten it all the way out here. The right wall had a low counter along it that was little more than a two foot wide shelf. A sink was set into the far end and I could smell the bottles of bleach and cleaner stored under it. Resting on the shelf next to it was a plain cardboard box whose top was folded shut.

I was about to step into the room when Jacob asked, "May I?" Before I could answer he had scooped me up and carried me bridal style over the threshold.

Something in me rebelled at the casual act; even as a joke it was too intimate an action. I pushed myself out of Jacob's arms with all my new strength. Back when I had been with Edward one of my more childish daydreams was of him carrying me over the threshold of our first home. It felt like Jacob was trampling on one of my lost dreams, trying to take a piece of me that belonged to Edward. As I landed on the floor Jacob stumbled back and fell out the still open door, landing on the ground outside. "What the hell Jacob?" I was suddenly furious, my already volatile emotions were boiling over.

Jacob looked confused, not sure what he had done wrong. "I-I was just goofing around Bella. Jeez calm down."

"Calm down!" I laughed angrily, "Every thing's a game with you isn't it. What? Did you think we were just going to play house out here in the middle of the woods like some kind of demented couple. Is that what you wanted?" My voice was slightly hysterical, I realized my reaction was way out of proportion compared to Jacob's action, but I couldn't seem to stop myself. "Are you happy now that you're the only man in my life I can go near without killing?"

"I didn't mean that Bella." He looked freaked out and part of me was right there with him. It was like I was disconnected from what I was saying, my temper had a mind of its own.

My vision narrowed and I felt my muscles tense. I managed to keep myself from attacking him physically but I couldn't hold back my words. "I bet you're glad I got changed, that you clawed me up so badly that even if Edward comes back he won't want me. I bet part of you even enjoyed doing it."

Jacob looked like he had just been hit in the gut with a sledge hammer, but when he heard my last words his face hardened. His entire body was shaking and for a second I was sure he was going to attack me. Instead he got to his feet and managed to grind out, "Maybe if you hadn't started sucking face with a fucking leech my people wouldn't be at risk of being killed for their blood, I wouldn't be a monster and I wouldn't be spending all my time babysitting a fucking newborn."

With visible effort he turned away and began stalking towards the trees. There was a loud ripping noise as he phased without bothering to remove his pants. I stood in the doorway of my new home stalk still for hours. At first I listened as Jacob's foot falls faded into the distance. I unconsciously wrapped my hands around my body as a fresh new hole was torn in it. Right next to the one Edward had left.

I had thought Edward had hollowed me out to the point that there was nothing left to damage, but Jacob had manged to prove that completely and utterly wrong. Eventually, I slid down the door frame as my chest heaved with dry gasping sobs. How could I have been so horrible to Jacob after everything he had done for me? Every track of my twelve track mind was consumed with guilt and self loathing. It was like my emotions had snapped from one extreme to another. From the peak of rage to the depth of remorse. Even though Jacob had spoken in anger, his words had been true. His loss of humanity was my fault. It had been my fault we were in the woods that day.

As the sun began to lighten the sky I headed back inside and mechanically looked through the things Charlie had packed for me. The dresser had most of my clothes from home. The box next to the sink held a variety of things. A few pictures of Renee and Charlie, a dozen books, some get well letters from my friends at school, and a bag of toiletries. I wondered if Charlie realized that I wouldn't ever need to use the toothbrush and paste he had packed me. The venom my body produced took care of my oral hygiene for me.

The most valuable thing Charlie had left me was a cellphone. At least I would be able to have some contact with the outside world now that I had managed to estrange Jacob.

I didn't see Jacob for three days. According to Charlie, Jacob had told Billy he needed time to cool down. I could hear Charlie's concern over the phone and tried to play down the fight we had had. I spent most of my time curled up on the cot in my new home pretending to sleep, keeping by arms wrapped around my knees in the hopes of easing some of the pain from the holes in my chest.

My body still had needs, and before long I couldn't ignore the burning thirst in my throat anymore. That was why I reluctantly left my cabin and headed deeper into the forest to hunt in the pouring rain. I was only a few hundred yards from the cabin when I picked up Jacob's unmistakable scent.

I contemplated following it, but decided I wasn't up to facing him quite yet. Instead I took off deeper into the woods. I ran aimlessly for the next hour, only paying enough attention to steer clear of any hiking paths. I doubted any one would be outside in the middle of the week during a storm, but I needed to be careful.

I eventually caught a scent that smelt vaguely appetizing. It wasn't as good as a human, but definitely better than the deer I had eaten last time I was out hunting. I followed the trail until it led me to a rather large black bear. As I gave myself over to my instincts I was grateful that it blocked out almost all of my swirling tormented emotions.

The bear was far more satisfying than deer had ever been and after the animal was empty I curled up against the still warm body, it was like some kind of macabre teddy bear. I was trying to think of a way of apologizing to Jacob when I became aware of a loud beating heart.

Jumping to my feet I spun to face the intruder. Standing downwind from me was Jacob. He was in his wolf form just watching me with his large hard to read eyes. A little self conscious at being snuck up on, I waved sheepishly, "Hi Jake."

Jacob turned and went behind a large cedar. I noticed a bundle of cloth tied to his back leg and realized that was how he was carrying his pants now. I guess it kept them a bit less slobbery than holding them in his mouth.

Jacob came out after a few moments and I found it hard to look at his face. We stood about twenty feet apart without saying anything for long time, finally Jacob said, "You're still a messy eater."

I looked down at the blood coating the front of my light yellow T-shirt. If it were physically possible I would have blushed. I contemplated making a joke about him not being much neater,but it stuck in my throat. Instead I bit the bullet and apologized, "I'm so sorry Jake, I don't know why I said those things. They were cruel selfish lies." The words rushed out leaving me breathless despite the fact that I didn't need to breathe.

The awkward silence returned and when I looked up at Jake he was examining the ground in front of him intently, "Not everything you said was false."

My eyes bugged in surprise but Jacob hurried on, "I didn't hurt you on purpose, I swear, and I wish I could have kept him from biting you." He paused again. " But part of me was kind of enjoying that we were stuck together like this. I know it's not fair to you. You made it clear you can't give me anything more. It's just that for a while I-I was having fun pretending."

Jacob looked at me begging my forgiveness and I knew that I had to be the one to close the gap between us. I hurried over to him and wrapped my hands around his waist. I was surprised that I missed the burning heat. It was like very spicy Indian food: unpleasant unless you were used to it. I wondered if that made me a masochist. Jacob quickly wrapped his arms around me.

He mumbled something into my hair along the lines of 'I'm sorry', then kissed the top of my head. He quickly pulled back and began sneezing. Despite the situation I laughed. When he recovered he shook his head, "I forgot how much you stink now." The words were said with a fondness that kept most of the sting out of them. In response I squeezed him tightly enough that the air was crushed out of his lungs.

"Ooof. I also forgot how strong you are now."

The rest of the afternoon passed by without another mention of our argument. Though I did notice that Jacob was no longer quite as hands on as he used to be. He no longer took my hand casually when he was in human form. I wasn't sure whether or not I was disappointed by the lack of human contact.

Despite the rain I was in a much better mood by the time I returned to my small cabin. I would have offered Jacob something to drink, but the sink wasn't connected to any pipes. There was a stream relatively nearby that we could use for water.

It wasn't until the sun was setting that I dared broach the subject our argument with Jacob again. He was sprawled out on my cot while I was perched on the counter staring out the cabin's single window, "I'm sorry for bringing the vampires here Jacob."

Jacob stiffened, but didn't answer immediately. Finally he said, "If they weren't here then they would be somewhere else killing people for food. At least here we have a chance of roasting them, don't feel guilty about them showing up." He had obviously been thinking about that for a while, but I still had the feeling he was just trying to make me feel better. On some level it worked.

Jacob dozed off at around ten, and while I watched him sleep I had to wonder how long his dad was going to let him get away with skipping school out here in the woods. As much as I would miss the company, Jacob shouldn't be tossing out his future just to hang out with me. School was not possible for me, at least not for a few years, but that didn't have to be the case for Jacob.

It was ironic that I hadn't been to school in weeks but had already managed to read all the required books for the rest of the year including my calculus textbook. The understanding just came so easily. I had no idea how the Cullens managed to keep their sanity after redoing high school for the hundredth time. It was all so tediously boring.

Being careful not to wake Jacob I packed up the books he had taken out of the library and slipped them into the small pack he ran with in his mouth. I felt a little awkward using him as a courier, but didn't have any other options. Maybe I could save some of the animals I killed and cook one as a thank you. He didn't seem to enjoy the raw meat, but he probably wouldn't say no to a meshui.

I smiled at the thought of his reaction to an entire spit roasted animal; who knows, there might actually be enough for leftovers. With nothing else to do I curled up on the floor next to the where Jacob was sleeping on the cot. Leaning my head against his side I flipped open my copy of Pride And Prejudice and began rereading it for the tenth time. At the same time I tried to figure out the best way of setting up a barbecue pit.


	6. Charlie

Still own none of these characters.

AN: Well I'm a bit dissapointed, no reviews at all for the last chapter. Still here is the next installment

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Bella's P.O.V

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Morning came and Jacob ran to Charlie's to drop off my things. When he took a long time coming back I began to worry. However, before I decided to call home I heard a very loud truck trundling along the logging road that passed within a mile of the cabin. I instantly recognized the sound as that of my beat up old truck and had to wonder what it was doing out here. I hoped it was Jacob and not Charlie, but it was too far away to tell. The engine cut out and I heard Jake bellow into the woods, "Come help me Bella."

Not sure what he wanted I sprinted through the woods until I reached the truck. Jacob stood at the back sliding sheets of drywall out of the truck bed. He grinned when he saw me and said, "Charlie got some building supplies from Port Angeles so we can make your place livable."

"You don't need to do that Jake," I shook my head embarrassed. I didn't feel right mooching off his labour. At least with the motorcycles he was getting something in exchange for his work.

Jacob just shrugged, "Don't worry about it Bells. Until I'm stable enough that I don't shift in a crowd of people I can't head back to school. I need something to pass the time. Besides you need two people to move this stuff if you don't want to break it."

I just shook my head. Jacob did love his projects. Taking broken things and fixing them. My truck, his rabbit, the motorcycles... me. We transported the tools and construction materials through the woods easily and spent the day fixing the drywall to the studs inside my small cabin. By the time we had finished the inside looked a lot less like a weekend hunting shack and more like a potential home. When we were done I was actually kind of proud of what we had managed to do. Jacob promised to bring plaster in tomorrow to smooth over the gaps.

The next month rolled by remarkably quickly. Jacob eventually went back to school, leaving him with very little free time. With the combination of patrolling, homework, feeding himself, taking care of Billy, and sleeping there was little time for him to be a normal sixteen year old. I tried to help him as best I could by taking over patrol of the more isolated regions, but the territory was just too big for two people to cover effectively.

Occasionally we would come across a relatively fresh vampire trail, but we never managed to catch sight of the elusive predator. I still remembered Laurent's words before he bit me. Was it Victoria out there trying to find me? Stalking the woods with her catlike grace? I couldn't understand how she could be so obsessed with me.

Jacob's behavior towards me had changed considerably since our fight. He no longer took my hand in his, or casually swung an arm around my shoulder. He always made sure to keep some distance between us. If it weren't for the occasional looks he gave me when he thought I wasn't paying attention I would think he just saw me as one of the guys. Sometimes I had the impression that Jacob was second guessing every action he took with me when we were both in human form. I had to admit that despite the relief I felt at no longer having to force Jacob to stay in the just friends category, I did miss casual ease our friendship once had.

It was the end of March before Jacob and I felt ready to test my self control with my dad. The closest thing to human contact I had had since my transformation was a group of hikers that had been bushwhacking deep in the forest. I had managed to halt my breathing before the blood lust could overpower me. I had run aimlessly away from them, letting my feet carry me home. All the while it had felt like a column of flames had risen through my throat. In desperation I had submerged myself in the stream near my cabin and filled my lungs with water, effectively killing my sense of smell.

When Jacob found me hours later he had been thrilled with my self control and the two us had quickly hunted to slate the pain in my throat. Still this was going to be nothing compared to seeing Charlie face to face.

Worry ran through my system as I dropped yet another exsanguinated deer to the ground. Jacob was already driving my beat up truck into town to pick up Charlie and bring him out here. I had forced down more animal blood than my stomach could comfortably hold and I hoped that that would be enough. I briefly contemplated making a run for Canada, but Jacob would probably catch me. Over the past month he had been getting faster while I had been getting noticeably slower. The decrease in strength and speed was well worth the increasing stability in my moods. I don't remember if Edward said that this was a normal part of the first years or not. I paused waiting for the pain of the memory out of habit, but was surprised when all I felt was a wistful fondness for the memory of the afternoon we had spent with Alice and Jasper. Alice and Edward had taken turns telling me the story of their early years. Jasper had stayed noticeably silent on the subject.

Coming back to the present I hefted the two empty deer corpses from the ground and began running back to the cabin. I estimated that I had about forty minutes before Charlie and Jacob would show up, that was more than enough time to skin and butcher the animals. Leaving the meat to rot was unbelievably wasteful when there was someone like Jacob around who could eat a whole deer's worth of meat in under a two weeks. Besides, the methodical butchering of the animal would keep my hands busy until Charlie arrived.

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Charlie's POV

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I was beginning to feel more and more anxious about finally getting to see Bella. For the past six weeks the only contact I had had with her were awkward telephone calls. The woman on the other end of the line had sounded nothing like my little girl. This woman's voice was high and clear, more like Alice Cullen's than Bella's.

Jacob kept me updated with what she was up to, and said she was doing well. Billy tells me that the two of them patrol the borders of Forks and La Push every night trying to keep the towns safe from the monsters that hurt Bella.

With the amount of effort Billy had put into trying to convince me that Bella was no longer Bella, I was surprised when he admitted one night that he was glad she was out there with Jacob. He had told me some of the old legends. Apparently Jacob had been beyond lucky when dealing with the vampire that attacked Bella. It normally took teams of wolves to tear the vampires apart without getting killed. At least with Bella on Jacob's side he wasn't as likely to die alone in the woods.

I shuddered at the memory of Bella's transformation. I have never felt as helpless as I did watching her writhe and scream in the Cullens' living room. When she had finally woken I couldn't believe that she was a danger to me. Jacob had stood between us and all but ordered me to leave. Still, if it hadn't been for Bella's panicked eyes I would have stayed. I still had trouble believing she was dangerous to me, she was just so tiny. Nevertheless, her phone calls were very clear; she didn't want me visiting until she was ready.

The only way I had been able to help her for the past month had been to give her a place to live. A place where she didn't have to worry about being a danger to humans. I had gladly paid for all the building supplies and tools Bella would need to make her home livable, but I still felt like I was being useless.

I often wished that this turned out to be an elaborate hoax, that Bella and Jacob had somehow tricked Billy and I into believing in monsters so the two of them could shack up in the woods. I know it didn't really make sense, but I was desperate for some kind of explanation that didn't involve Bella drinking blood.

Jacob pulled up outside my house in Bella's truck. I was surprised to see that he was wearing a jacket for once. It was a heavy winter coat that looked extremely small on him. I hurried down the path to the truck before he could get out. After sliding into the passenger seat it took a couple of tries to get the door closed. Jacob laughed, "Sorry, I thought I fixed that."

"Don't worry about it, I'm surprised there was enough left to fix." I remembered driving to the Cullens' old place with Bella in Jacob's lap, the passenger door being noticeably absent.

We drove in silence which suited me just fine. I wasn't one to waste words and Jacob seemed to understand that. The truck bounced through the abandoned logging roads before having to stop because of a large tree across the lane. The trunk was at least three feet in diameter and I remembered that we were still about five miles from the trail that led to Bella's cabin.

Jacob tapped the steering wheel in irritation and muttered, "I thought Bella was going to move that for us."

I gave Jacob and incredulous look, I knew he said Bella was strong, but there was no way she could move something like that. Jacob seemed to come to a decision and got out of the truck. He took off the jacket and tossed it to me, "That should make you smell less human." I was a bit surprised that he was bare chested underneath it, but I guessed this was another precaution to keep Bella from killing me. Jacob slid off his pants and hung them on back of the truck. Next thing I knew he had turned into a wolf.

I watched in amazement as Jacob threw his furry shoulder into the trunk, forcing it off the road. I don't think I will ever get used to how Jacob seems to twist the laws of nature by simply existing, it was just too unnatural. Jacob seemed to read my mind because he was grinning at me by the time he got back into the car wearing his sweats. "Don't worry Charlie you'll get used to it eventually."

I looked at the now cleared road and muttered, "I wish I didn't have to."

Jacob heard me, and as he put the car in gear said, "Same here." The smile had left his face.

I wasn't sure what to say to that so I stayed quiet. Billy was proud of his son for what he had become, but Jacob made no secret that he wished he was human. I felt sorry for the kid and that he had been given the responsibility of protecting his entire tribe from monsters that shouldn't exist. I don't think I knew how I could thank him for taking care of Bella on top of all that.

We parked the car and began the short hike to the cabin. As we moved through the trees I could swear I smelt barbecue. The closer to the cabin we got the more pronounced the smell became, despite my nerves I began to feel hungry. Next to me I heard Jacob's stomach growl. When we came into view of Bella's house I saw smoke rising from an odd looking boulder that sat in the front yard.

It was a rectangular slab maybe seven feet long, three feet wide, and three feet high. As I came around the side facing the house I could see the inside had been hollowed out leaving it a similar shape as a stone church pew. Metal racks had been fitted into notches in the stone making a massive outdoor barbecue. I glanced back at Jacob and asked, "One of your projects?"

Jacob laughed, "Naw that was all Bella. She found the rock out in the woods and carried it back here."

"What did she use to carve it?" I had never seen tool marks like the shallow round furrows left in the stone.

"Her fingers." I looked at Jake in disbelief, but he was completely serious. Finally I decided to just go with it. If the world insisted that it wanted to be insane who was I to question it? Jacob turned to the cabin and asked at a normal volume, "You ready Bells?"

For a while there was no answer, but eventually the door swung open and Bella stood on the front step. "Hi dad." She waved slightly, her voice the same high, perfectly pitched one I had come to know over the phone.

I had forgotten how different Bella looked now. Her hair was done in a simple braid, doing nothing to hide the vicious scars on the side of her face. Despite my best efforts my eyes were drawn to the angry gashes. Bella cringed slightly and I instantly felt like a jackass. Oddly enough she was wearing an apron and two bright yellow rubber gloves that reached her elbows. "They're so the food doesn't smell like vampire." She answered my unspoken question quickly, using as few words as possible.

Made sense I guess. "You good Bells?" Jacob asked hesitantly. I noticed that her hands had clenched into tight fists. She nodded and backed into the house, leaving the door open for us to follow. Jacob went first.

The inside of the cabin was surprisingly homey, Bella and Jacob had done an amazing job at making the place livable. There were photos of me, Renee, Jacob, Billy and some of her friends on the walls. The cot I had put in the corner had been replaced by a couch I was pretty sure I had seen at the Clearwaters', and there was a small camp stove set up under the window next to the sink. On a card table next to the door was a stack of about a half dozen thick steaks. That probably explained why the barbecue was still smoking.

Bella had retreated to a seat on the couch and I was left to take one of the chairs at the table. Trying to avoid looking at Bella's scars I spoke awkwardly, "It's good to see you Bella."

She smiled tightly, keeping her lips closed. It looked like she was in physical pain. Jacob, who hadn't sat yet, looked at Bella uneasily, "Plan B?"

Bella looked at him with relief and nodded. I wasn't sure what he meant but he sat on the couch next to Bella and hoisted her onto his lap before locking his arms around her waist. I was a little suspicious about what the two had been up to alone out here all this time but quickly dismissed that thought. Both of them looked very awkward in the intimate position and I hoped that that meant they weren't doing anything I didn't want to think about.

I still found it hard to believe Bella would attack me, but she looked so worried that I decided to be careful. "I like what you've done with this old place." I finally said.

Bella seemed to relax a little bit, "It was a lot of work, but it helps keep me busy at night."

I nodded, I forgot that she didn't sleep anymore. Again there was an awkward pause, finally I asked, "How are you doing Bella, really?"

I watched her think about her answer, the unnatural stillness of her body unnerving me. Finally she spoke, "I'm doing well. I think I'm actually happy for the first time since Edward left." I was practically bowled over by her almost casual use of Cullen's name.

The tense atmosphere slowly began to relax as the afternoon wore on, I think Bella was getting used to being near me. Eventually we ate the venison steaks Bella had cooked, I had one while Jacob ate the five remaining.

She stayed on Jake's lap with his arms locked around her just in case, but by the end when I asked if I could hug her she nodded.

Jacob was beaming the whole ride home, he was obviously pleased with how Bella handled my visit. When we pulled into my driveway I decided now was as good a time as any to address something that had been bothering me. "Jacob, are you sleeping with my daughter?"

It was a good thing I had waited for Jacob to stop driving because there was a good chance he would have steered us off the road. For a second he sputtered before finally getting out, "Bella and I are just friends, she made it clear that that's all we are."

I nodded and didn't comment on the obvious fact that Jacob wished otherwise. Honestly it surprised me that Bella hadn't given into the boy. He had been the only one who could reach her after Edward left and I naturally assumed she and Jacob had become intimate after all the time they spent together. Billy had once let it slip that Jacob still spent less than half his nights sleeping at home. When I heard that my mind instantly jumped where any fathers would. Still I trusted Jacob more than I would most boys his age. Hesitating I said, "I'm glad she has you."

I got out of the car and he said, "Thanks Charlie." He then pulled out of the driveway and headed back to Bella. As the car disappeared down the lane I sighed, Bella could do a lot worse than Jacob.


	7. Sam

As usual, don't own the characters.

Thanks to those who reviewed last chapter, I appreciate the feedback

Bella finally gets to meet more of the pack!

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April 15th

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Bella POV

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I jumped from tree to tree trying to keep my pursuer from corralling me against the cliffs of the nearby mountains. If I could make it to the water I would be safe from him. Unfortunately jumping from the branches was nowhere near as fast as running on the ground and I quickly began to regret my choice of escape roots.

The foliage was too thick to see him below me but I heard his oversized heart pumping in his chest. The rhythmic beating distracted me for a second. It was one second too long. There was a deafening crack and the tree that I had paused on lurched to the side hard enough for me to loose my balance.

I tried to grip the wood and keep myself from falling into his jaws but it didn't work, the wood of the trunk tore away in my hands as insubstantial as wet papier mache. I fell from the dizzying height of the cedar but managed to get my feet under me before hitting the forest floor.

I saw the russet wolf pouncing even as I absorbed the shock of the landing with my knees. He tackled me and we rolled three times each fighting to stay on top, but eventually his bulk won out. I was pinned and couldn't move him without risking damaging him seriously. "Fine, Uncle!" I shouted.

Jacob pulled back slightly now that he had won. However before letting me up he licked the entire left side of my face with his dinner plate sized tongue.

"Oh gross Jake!" I pushed him off me disgusted and slimy. Now I would smell like wolf for the rest of the day.

Jacob however was still in too good a mood to care. He was prancing around like a dog that had just stolen one of its friend's toys. I shook my head at his antics. That was Jacob, the overgrown puppy. I couldn't help but laugh, "Don't get too cocky Jake, the scores' still seven four for me."

These games had been Billy's idea. He figured it would be good to take advantage of a willing vampire to practice the chase. Jacob had loved the idea of a new game and I had to admit it was a lot of fun. Sort of like capture the flag at ninety miles an hour.

Since Charlie had started coming by for visits my control had gotten a lot better. Jacob had even convinced Billy to come out once. The resulting meeting had been very strained. We were both polite, but I knew that Billy was still afraid of me. I'm still nowhere near ready to safely hang out with humans or go back to school, but I can almost ignore my blood lust when around Charlie.

I got off the forest floor and dusted off my clothes. I had quickly learned not to wear anything I cared for while running with Jacob. My current ensemble consisted of a T-shirt and pants too blood stained from hunting in them to be good for anything else. The thought of hunting brought a tweak from the back of my throat. I was about to ask Jacob if he wanted to find something to eat, when I noticed the sudden tension in his stance. If I didn't know my hearing was as good as his I would think he was listening to something only he could hear. He was standing utterly still.

"Jake?" I asked. I couldn't smell or hear anything and I wondered what was wrong. He turned his head to me and opened his mouth as if he wanted to say something. I was about to ask him to shift back when his head reeled in the direction of La Push. Next thing I knew he was running towards the reservation.

Now I was really worried. Had a vampire attacked? I sprinted after him. I couldn't stand the thought of Jacob facing down a vampire alone. According to Quilieute legends one bite could kill a wolf.

I tried to keep up, but while vampires were far more nimble and physically stronger than wolves, the wolves were built for running. The trip to La Push was one straight sprint and before long I was so far behind Jacob that I had to rely on scent rather than sight to follow him.

It took about fifteen minutes before I practically ran into Jacob less than a hundred yards from the nearest La Push house. Even from this distance I could hear and smell the humans in them. Luckily I was able to put them out of my mind. There were bigger concerns now, namely the giant black wolf standing five feet from my favorite russet one.

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Sam's POV  
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I couldn't believe Leah. One minute we're making out, the next she's yelling at me for not going to the doctor to check out this fever. I love her, but sometimes- hell most of the time- she just won't let a thing go. I feel fine, actually I feel great, but she won't come over until I go get a check up. What the hell?

I felt my body convulse, pain shot up my spine and I dropped to my knees. ~Whoa, maybe Leah was right. I really should go to the doctors.~ Something didn't feel right. Another tremor racked my body and the next thing I knew I was running for the trees. Instinctively searching for cover.

I had just managed to barrel into the woods before I felt a blinding pain rip through my entire body. I didn't understand how I could hurt this much and not be dying. Everything was tearing and burning. ~God Bella looks hot like that.~

~What the hell?~ Where did that thought come from? I was suddenly assaulted with the image of a woman lying on the ground, propped up on her elbows. Curly brown hair fell down over her shoulders, tussled and shooting out at all angles. The entire scene was bathed in the warm glow of affection. I vaguely recognized her as Charlie Swan's daughter. I had met her on First beach over a year ago.

This didn't make any sense.~Why am I thinking of the Swan girl while my body is being ripped apart from the inside?~

~What the hell?~ Someone asked, suddenly on edge. I got the impression they were listening to something. Finally the voice asked, ~Sam?~

Without realizing I must have confirmed his guess, ~Holy crap you just phased!~

I was about to ask what that meant when images flashed in my mind. Jacob looking in a reflective pool as he moved from wolf to man and back. Billy telling him to burn the cold one's body to make sure it was dead. Before anymore images could filter into my mind, my temper got the best of me, ~How the fuck is that going to help me?~

Normally I was calm and in control, but I just felt so damn angry. It was like it was boiling out of my pores. ~It gets easier.~ Jacob thought in my head. Soon followed by ~At least he's not in public, maybe I can take him back to Bella's to calm down?~

~Don't talk about me like I'm not here.~ I yelled in my head. ~Jeez I must be going completely nuts.~

~You're not crazy Sam. Look, stay where you are, the woods are a bit hard to get around when you're new. I'll be there as soon as I can.~ I caught a brief glimpse of a memory of accidentally walking into a camp full of girl guides. This was swiftly followed by an unrelated thought. ~Should I phase back and tell Bella what's happening? If I do I won't be able to talk to Sam. Dad warned me that others might be changing, I had kind hoped we would have caught the leech before that would happen.~

~I don't want to be left alone like this.~ I hated how scared I sounded and instantly wished I could sensor my thoughts better.

I felt Jacob give in and begin running towards me with Bella following. Before I could wonder how she was able to run that fast Jacob thought, ~I can't blame you man.~ Suddenly I was in his memory panic and pain were everywhere Bella was on the ground in front of me struggling to breathe and I couldn't turn back into a human to help her. Suddenly the memory cut off, I could sense Jacob hadn't wanted to share that I felt like I had intruded on something very personal.

~This telepathy thing kind of sucks doesn't it.~ Jacob thought through our strange link

While Jacob ran I heard him trying to think how this would affect patrols and wonder if I would enjoy working with Bella. I only half listened, mostly focused on the pain in my joints. Why did this have to be so excruciating?

Jacob eventually burst through the foliage in front of me and I was relieved to see that he was indeed a giant wolf and that I wasn't crazy. He looked at me curiously and I heard him think, ~At least Bella will be able to tell us apart.~ There was a certain amount of humor in his tone.

The smell hit me the second she burst out of the forest behind Jacob. My body knew instantly what she was. Jacob must not have heard her because he didn't turn to face the monster, leaving his back exposed. ~Look out!~ I shouted as I leaped at the thing shaped like a girl.

~STOP~ I heard the command in every cell of my body and couldn't do anything except try and halt my forward momentum. It was too late and I was already in the air. I saw the vampire sinking into a defensive crouch. Before I could close half the distance between us I was hit from the side with what felt like a furry freight train. The wind was knocked out of me as my attacker and I rolled through a couple of massive trees. Instinctively I tried to bite at my attacker but he was faster and stronger than me. Before long I was under him and he had his teeth at my throat.

~You done?~ Jake asked and I could feel the rage radiating off him.

I couldn't understand why he was siding with the vampire. He answered, ~Bella's my friend. She's been helping protect our borders.~

When I submitted he backed up off me but stayed between me and the girl. For the first time I caught a glimpse of her and was glad she couldn't read my face. Her face was covered in angry scars. I vaguely remembered that my mom had mentioned that Chief Swan's daughter had been attacked by a bear.

~It wasn't a bear.~ I heard Jake think, guilt coated his mental voice, giving it a bitter unpleasant flavor. He looked off towards the edge of the woods and I knew he was wondering if we had drawn attention to ourselves with the loud scuffle. Realizing we were too near the reservation he said, "Follow me."

The three of us ran deep into the woods. I knew from Jacob's thoughts that we were heading to Bella's home, and as we drew closer I could smell her burning stink on more and more of the surrounding trees, stones, and ground. It made me a little sick thinking of a cold one living on tribe land. I knew the legends like the back of my hand, it had always made me proud that my people were the protectors of this land. Even hearing Jacob's thoughts I couldn't understand how he could even think of risking our own people's safety for some white girl.

~What if it were Leah?~ Jacob spat at me.

I couldn't close my eyes to the image he sent me of Leah screaming in pain as the change corrupted her body. Helplessly watching her slowly die, begging any god or spirit that would listen to help her. That I'd give anything to stop her pain. ~You've made your point Jacob.~

I glanced over Jacob's back and saw Bella eying me warily. She was running close enough to Jacob to reach out and touch his furry side and I could have sworn she looked at him protectively. I wondered what she thought of me. Jacob still hadn't phased back to explain, still she hadn't asked any questions yet.

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Bella POV

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The new wolf scared me. Like with Jacob my body and instincts told me the wolf was a treat, but unlike Jacob this new wolf had attacked me on sight. I don't know how Jacob had known the wolf was here, but he had led us straight to him.

I wondered who he was. Jacob had said three of the Quileutes had been smelling more wolf like in the past month but I had only met one of them. They were all slightly older than Jacob and me. Their names were Paul, Jared, and Sam. I vaguely remembered Sam from First Beach over a year ago. Now that I thought back on that distant human memory I realized that Sam had always believed the legends, to the point that he had hated the Cullens without having the instinctual drive of being a wolf. I hoped that the new wolf was one of the boys I hadn't met yet and not someone who believed I was fundamentally evil.

Jacob had mentioned that Quil and Embry were also starting to show signs of the change, but he hoped we could deal with Victoria before his friends were forced into becoming monsters. I worried that my presence was making things worse, but Jacob insisted that as long as I didn't hunt humans the wolves wouldn't manifest because of me. That was why there had been no pack during the years the Cullens stayed here. The change came from the threat to pack and its lands, not from the mere presence of vampires.

We made it to my cabin pretty quickly. Jacob and I had torn down the trees immediately in front of the entrance, giving me a bit of a front yard that was now feeling very cramped with two very large wolves standing there.

Jacob was busy staring at the black wolf as if trying to convey some deep truth and I finally had enough of being left in the dark. "Can you tell me what's going on Jake? I'm a bit out of the loop here."

Jacob looked at me in surprise then back at the black wolf. He quickly jogged behind the barbecue and phased back. Honestly, I had seen Jacob naked enough times that I'm surprised he bothered with modesty anymore. Still I did appreciate the effort.

"Sorry Bella, Sam's just really freaked out and I didn't want to leave him alone in his head."

I remembered how terrified Jacob had said the transformation was for him and instantly felt guilty for my curt tone earlier. I wasn't really sure how I could help. The two things that seemed to calm Jacob down were running and food. I couldn't help with the running, but the food I was good at. "Want me to put something on the grill?"

Jacob gave me a weak smile. "Thanks Bells. I'm always up for food, but Sam will probably be in too much pain for the next little while to eat anything. I'm going to try and show him how to phase back"

I nodded, racking my brain for anything else, "I'll call Billy and tell him what happened. He can talk to Sam's parents."

Sam barked, I looked to Jacob for translation. He shrugged and said, "Just a second I can't hear him like this."

He stepped back from the barbecue and quickly shifted from man to wolf and back. "Sam doesn't want his mom to know, he thinks it'll worry her too much."

I looked back at Sam doubtfully. Contact with Charlie during my early weeks as a vampire had been something that helped keep me grounded. However if Sam was sure he didn't want his mom involved it wasn't my place to argue. "Do you think she would believe that you and Jake have gone camping for a week?"

The wolf looked at me suspiciously for a moment before nodding slowly. I gave him a tentative smile but it didn't seem to put him at ease. I was forcefully reminded of some of my first interactions with Edward. Those times when it had looked like he wanted nothing more than to kill me. I was about to back into my house to get my cell phone when Jacob added, "Could you ask dad to call Leah too. Sam's worried about her."

I nodded and smiled slightly. I couldn't imagine what it would have been like if Jacob had suddenly disappeared for two weeks while he got used to the transformation. Trust Jacob to think of something like that. "Is it okay if she knows what's going on?"

Both Jacob and Sam shook their heads, but for different reasons. Sam most likely for the same reason he didn't want his mother to know. While Jacob's concern had more to do with the council agreeing that no more people than necessary could know about the wolves. "It's probably best if Leah gets the same story everyone else is hearing. Less loose ends and all." He didn't look happy about it, but I guess there wasn't much choice. He shrugged helplessly and said, "I'd better phase back, the sooner Sam gets human again the sooner he'll get used to all this."

His body was quickly replaced with his wolf form and he and Sam sat facing each other silently. I quickly gave Billy a call and explained the situation to him. He didn't seem surprised that Sam was the one who shifted. Like most of my conversations with Billy this one was short, awkward, and over quickly.

With that out of the way I headed out to start the barbecue. As I walked to it I saw Jacob briefly shift from wolf to human and back. I was momentarily glad I no longer had the ability to blush. It was just weird seeing him naked.

It took almost three days for Sam to return to his human form. During that time Jacob spent almost all of Sam's waking hours as a wolf trying to make it easier for him. Until you got used to it, the transformation was excruciatingly painful. Jacob compared it to willingly holding your hand in a bonfire. The only reason he had been able to do it so soon after his first phase was because the adrenaline and severity of my injuries didn't leave him another option.

The two wolves hunted together and Jacob tried to get Sam used to eating raw meat. It was odd, even though Jacob had taken a break from school and I was seeing more of him than I had been for the past weeks I couldn't help but feel more isolated. Before the change I had wished Jacob were my brother. That way I would have a claim on him without the romantic strings.

After being bitten it had seemed that I had gotten my wish. Whether it was my smell, my scars, or just that Jake had finally gotten the message, he had stopped pushing the romantic relationship. We goofed off, hunted, and roughhoused like he was just my best friend. At the same time we were bound by the shared burden of no longer being human. However now that Sam had phased Jacob had a real brother. Someone who had a genuine tie to him,they were pack, it was their unique legacy as Quileute. It was hard for me to admit that I felt threatened by their new bond.

Still I felt selfish talking to Jacob about it. He had saved my life when Edward's leaving had hollowed me out. Could I really resent him for helping his friend in a way that only he could? Besides I still got to have him to myself as he dozed off on my couch, too tired to run back to Billy's. He would tell me about the progress Sam was making. The pride in his voice was kind of endearing, I imagine it was similar to how I felt after successfully teaching Renee to work her microwave.

The morning Sam finally managed the shift was a surprise. I had run to Billy's to pick up some groceries. I didn't trust myself in town yet, but Sue had agreed to drop groceries off at Jacob's house for me to pick up.

When I came out of the woods behind the Black's house I was surprised to see Sue's car still in the driveway. Normally when I made these food runs for Jacob, Sue was gone before I arrived. I wondered if this had anything to do with Leah's relationship with Sam.

I made it up the walk and knocked on Billy's door. Sue opened it almost immediately and I was pleased that her smell didn't bother me any more than as a small fire in the back of my mind. I gave her a tentative smile, "Hi Mrs. Clearwater, how are you?"

Sue was obviously nervous being so close to me and I was reminded of the natural aversion humans had of the Cullens despite ignorance of their nature. Still she answered politely, "I'm doing well Bella. I was just hoping to hear any news about Sam?"

I shrugged, "He's doing better. Jacob said the pain in his bones is fading. He was able to get a solid night's sleep. We're hoping he'll be able to phase back soon."

Sue gave a sigh of relief, "I'm glad, Leah's been getting frantic since he left. Apparently they had a fight before he changed and she thinks he isn't calling because he's angry at her."

I felt slightly uncomfortable talking about Leah's relationship. I didn't think I knew the girl well enough to gossip. The last time I had seen her she had been a barbecue at the Blacks'. Her little brother had been nice, but she spent all her time on the phone. I was trying to find an appropriate answer when Sue spoke somewhat offhandedly, "Still it's a good thing that Jacob isn't out there all alone."

The words felt like a punch to the gut. She hadn't meant them with any malice, and that made them sting even more. I didn't bother hiding the bitterness in my tone when I said, "Wouldn't want to leave Jake alone with the big bad leech right?"

Sue realized what she had said and had the decency to look chagrined. I was surprised when she reached out and touched my elbow apologetically, "I'm sorry Bella. I didn't mean it that way. The council is actually amazed at how much control you have. But you need to understand, even though you help Jacob with the patrolling, there is more to being a wolf than that. Sam can understand that and help Jacob in ways you can't."

That was something I hadn't thought of before. All this time I had been focused on how Jacob was helping Sam. I hadn't considered the fact that Sam would be able to help Jake with some of the wolfy things I couldn't. They were family. "They're brothers."

Sue nodded and dropped her hand. There was an awkward silence that ended when I said, "I guess I should get the food back to the guys." Sue nodded and stepped inside to get the large box I would be taking back to my cabin. After and awkward goodbye I walked towards the woods. I was almost the trees when I shouted back, "I'll get Sam to call Leah as soon as manages to phase back."

As I ran back I thought over what Sue had said. As much as I wished it wasn't the case, Jacob needed Sam and I couldn't resent him for spending time with him rather than me.

So when I heard two human voices coming from my cabin I resolved to do my best to make Sam feel welcome in my home. He was Jacob's brother, it was the least I could do.

Like Jacob, Sam was now huge even in his human form. He stood at about six foot seven and the painful angry scowl on his face was quite intimidating. He tensed as soon as I entered the clearing in front of the house.

Jacob immediately stepped between us and put a hand on Sam's chest, "Stay calm or you'll shift."

Sam looked to Jacob and nodded without speaking. I walked over to the door to the cabin and put down the groceries that would eventually feed Jacob and Sam. I approached Sam slowly and held out my hand to him, "Nice to finally meet you Sam."

The boy - man really, he was almost twenty - eyed my hand suspiciously for a second before reaching out and shaking it. I felt him cringe at the cold unnatural feel of my skin. "Bella." His voice was husky and I knew he was still in a lot of pain. It reminded me of Jacob after I first woke up.

"Sue said Leah's been worried about you. If you want to call, my phone's on the table in the cabin."

"Thanks." He said and released my grip before heading inside. As he left he said something to Jake in a strange fluid language.

When I heard Sam dialing my phone I asked, "What was that about?"

Jake shrugged, "Sam's just a little obsessed with tradition. He thinks it's best if we communicate in Quileute instead of English." Jacob laughed uneasily.

I was suddenly very suspicious about what Sam had said. "What did he say?"

Jacob shrugged uncomfortably before answering, "He told me to watch my back."

I heard Sam's conversation with Leah pause and felt anger stir, "He's the one whose actually attacked you."

Jacob shrugged apologetically, "Sorry Bella, it's his instinct not to trust you. Don't worry, he'll get over it soon enough." He grinned and clapped a hand on my shoulder, "He just needs to get to know you."

I wish I could share Jacob's confidence. Deciding to change the topic I said, "Start chopping vegetables for a salad. I'll heat up the barbecue."

"You know you don't have to cook for us Bella, especially since you don't get to enjoy it. I feel like I'm taking advantage." He sounded a little uncomfortable and I shrugged off his words.

"You know I enjoy this. It makes me feel normal." I emptied a bag of charcoal into the carved out barbecue before dousing it in some starter fluid. As I lit the fire I said, "Besides, what else can I do with my time."

The venison was kept in a large cooler dad had once used for all the fish he and Billy caught over the years. A couple of months with Jacob's new appetite and there was no longer any need for the cooler so we moved it out here. The lack of electricity was a bit of a problem but stocking it with ice was enough to keep the meat from spoiling.

As I turned from the barbecue to get the meat ready Jacob stepped in front of me, blocking my path. "How about we catch a movie once Sam's doing better?"

"What?" I asked incredulously. My self control may be pretty good, but there was no reason to chance it. Jake however seemed oblivious, caught up in his idea.

"It's not fair that you're stuck out here all the time. At least I get to go to school now and then." He paused, thinking for a moment. Finally he said, "Tell you what. This Saturday dad's heading over to Charlie's for a game, we can take a break from patrolling and watch a movie at my place."

My first instinct was to say no, I knew Billy wouldn't want me in his house and it was a little irresponsible to lay off the patrols, even for a morning. Still it would be nice to have a break from the routine I had been in for the past months. "I'd like that Jake."

Jacob looked pleased with with himself as he helped me with the meal. Sam eventually finished talking to Leah and joined us outside. I'd hoped talking to his girlfriend would have put him in a better mood, but I think the fact that he was hiding what he was from her was putting a strain on him.


	8. Leah

**Usual disclaimer**

**So thanks for the reviews, glad people are enjoying the story. The POV in this chapter jumps around a bit, but after that it's going to be just Jacob and Bella till the end of part1. I have to admit this chapter was fun to write because I got to try and figure out how Leah would respond to her boyfriend disapearing for weeks without explanation.**

**Anyway, if you have any input on what you would like to see happen, I'm open for suggestions. Most of the first part has been writen, but the second has yet to be tackled I'd love to know what people want to see.**

**Finally, there are going to be some fairly graphic fight scenes in future chapters, I have a hard time judging what is too much in the description department. If it feels like the gore is gratuitus, please tell me, I don't want that aspect to detract from the story.**

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Bella's P.O.V.

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The first week after Sam's change he still wasn't ready to be around people. The 'gone camping' excuse was replaced with a 'got sick from going camping' excuse. He had grudgingly explained what was going on to his mother who had taken it surprisingly well.

The second week after the change Sam was more or less in control, but that Saturday he and Jacob had their first encounter with the vampire that had been stalking our territory. I had spent that morning at Charlie's making him some meals to tide him over for the week when I heard the wolves' howls. Despite my vampiric grace I almost sliced through the cutting board I was using.

Even from miles away I could hear the pain in the wolf's cry. Not bothering to explain to Charlie or Billy, I sprinted out of the house and into the forest.

The woods whipped by as I ran in the direction of the howl. Eventually I came upon Jacob and Sam's familiar scents along with a fresh vampire trail. I instantly recognized the vampire trail as belonging to the one that had been pocking around the edges of Quileute land.

I heard them long before I reached them. Their two heart beats were similar yet drastically different. It meant one was still in their wolf form. I saw Sam's massive black shoulders first through the dense foliage. A second later I was only twenty feet from him. He turned on me and snarled viciously. I could see Jacob behind him leaning against the trunk of a massive tree. The entire area was saturated with the smell of blood.

Sam's eyes were filled with rage and promises of violence. I had to fight the urge to shrink back from the hate coming off him. I still couldn't tell how Jacob was doing other than being alive. "Please Sam let me see Jake."

The wolf didn't budge and I felt my anger start to bubble to the surface. Unconsciously I shifted forward into a crouch. The tense atmosphere was broken when Jacob shouted, "Back off Sam." Even the anger in his tone couldn't mask the pain.

Reluctantly the wolf stepped to the side and I saw Jacob leaning against the tree. His right side was a bloody mess, there was a massive gash running from just below his ribs to his armpit. His left hand seemed to be holding the two sides together. With my enhanced vision I could see the edges slowly knitting themselves together.

Without thinking I sprinted to Jacob's side and knelt next to him. The burning thirst that usually arose when Jacob accidentally cut himself near me was easily pushed to the back of my mind and some part of me wondered why the Cullen's had such a hard time controlling themselves at my birthday.

I quickly looked for something I could use to block the flow of blood and realized that Jacob wasn't wearing his usual sweatpants, they were still tied around his ankle. Ignoring my friend's nudity I snatched the small bundle of cloth and snapped the string that held it to his ankle. I gently pulled Jacob's hand away from the wound and used the sweatpants to keep any more blood from seeping out.

My frantic efforts were interrupted by Jacob's strained laughter. "Relax Bells. I'll be fine in a couple of minutes."

I didn't relax, but I did ask, "What happened, who did this?"

Jacob sighed, "It was the same leech that's been around for weeks. We actually saw her this time. You were right, it was the red head Laurent told you about."

"Victoria." I hissed her name. Why couldn't she just leave me alone? I was already dead, what more did she want? "She got away?"

Jacob gave a wheezing laugh, "Turns out they're a lot harder to kill when they know you're coming. She clawed me up before running off. Sam decided to stay here instead of going after her, just in case she doubled back to finish me off." I could hear Jacob's anger at the last part.

"Don't worry Jake you'll get her." As the adrenaline rush began to fade the thirst in my throat flared. Jacob seemed to notice my sudden tenseness and carefully put his hand over mine where I held pressure on his wound, "I'll be okay Bella, Sam can help me get back home."

I nodded without breathing and carefully slipped my hand out from under his. Once again I was forcefully reminded of the fact that I couldn't always be there for Jacob when he needed me, my body wouldn't let me. I still wished Jacob could have been born my brother, but Sam was filling that niche more and more. Leaving my status in Jacob's life more and more nebulous.

Waving goodbye to Sam I backed into the woods and submerged myself in the closest stream I could find. I scrubbed Jacob's blood from my hands until there was no more temptation to sneak a taste. That was when the situation finally hit me. Jacob had almost died today. All because a vampire had a grudge against me, all because I had decided to play with monsters. How ironic that it was him who was paying the price instead of me.

What if Jacob died? What if Victoria made it to my house and killed Charlie? What if she got Sam? It would be my fault. Their deaths would be on me. I was the one who had started this. As I broke down into tearless sobs I realized that for the first time since he left, some small part of me regretted ever meeting Edward Cullen. The expression 'tis better to have loved and lost then never to have loved at all' lost some of its credibility when those closest to you started being brutally killed.

Eventually I went back to my cabin and changed into a fresh outfit. Glancing in the small mirror I had put up over the sink I realized my eyes were pitch black. At least going for a hunt would help distract me from worrying about Jacob. Still, I called Billy to check on Jacob's injury before leaving.

Even taking my time hunting I still made it home with plenty of time to agonize over the situation with Victoria. I contemplated just going out and handing myself over to her, but I had no idea how to find her. Not even my copy of Wuthering Heights was enough to distract me from the long hours alone in my tiny cabin.

When my phone rang at nine the next morning I answered it before the first ring could end. "Jake?"

"Hey Bells, how's it going?" He asked cheerfully.

For some reason his good mood actually made me angry, "How's it going?" I asked incredulously, "I've been worried sick all night."

The oaf actually had the gall to laugh! "I'm not as fragile as I look. All that's left is a scratch."

I sighed in relief, now that I was as hard as granite it was hard to look at any humans as anything other than fragile. Even seeing the wound close before my eyes, it was hard to believe that he was alright already. I was silent long enough that Jacob spoke again, "So you coming over?"

"What?"

Jacob laughed again, it sounded surprisingly carefree, almost like before changing into a wolf. "The movie Bells. Dad's out fishing, I'm sure as hell not going anywhere, and Sam doesn't trust his control enough yet to be out there alone. So movie day."

I couldn't help but laugh at Jacob's logic. Rolling my eyes I said, "I'll be there in half an hour."

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Leah's P.O.V.

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It had been over two weeks since Sam had walked out after our argument. I could hardly even remember what the fight was about, something along the lines of him not wanting to go to the doctor. I shook my head in frustration, that didn't matter. What mattered was that he hadn't been the same since.

According to his mom he was off camping with Jacob Black. That in itself seemed strange since I was pretty sure Sam just thought of Jacob as some dumb kid. Even if the kid had gone through a massive growth spurt he was still four years younger than my boyfriend.

Most of the res had been gossiping about Jacob for the past couple of months. After he and that Swan girl were attacked by a bear he had been missing a lot of school. When he did bother to show up he kept to himself. He didn't really hang out with his other two friends any more. He would eat with them, and I usually saw them walking as a group in the halls but it always looked like they were just caught up in his wake as he walked from one class to another. Always in a hurry, always angry.

What was strange about the whole thing was that none of the adults seemed to mind. In fact dad had mentioned more than once that Jacob was the best thing to ever happen to our tribe.

Sam called me almost a week after he disappeared to tell me that he was sick, but hung up when I tried to find out where he had been. I had talked to Sam's mom about the supposed camping trip and illness but she was just as confused by his behavior as I was. Then a few days later she had completely clammed up. She told me that Sam was sick and that I shouldn't bother him for a little while.

I tried being patient, I really did, but I was never that good at waiting. I let two days go by before I started calling. No matter how many times I called, Sam was too sick to come to the phone. It wouldn't have been so bad if I hadn't gotten the impression his mother was lying to me.

It was a week ago that I stopped trying to call him, not because I was giving up, but because I saw Sam outside with Jacob Black. I had been driving to the store when I saw them walking along the road with two bulging bags of groceries each. Rather than looking sick, Sam looked great. I swear he must have gained thirty pounds of muscle since he had disappeared. He had cut his hair very short and looked very similar to Jacob.

I slammed on the brakes, planning on giving Sam a piece of my mind. I only looked away from them for a second to make sure no one was going to rear end my car, but when I looked back they were gone.

I searched for them for twenty minutes before getting back into my car and driving home. As I slammed the front door I heard my mother speak from the kitchen, "That you Leah?"

"Who else would it be?" I shouted angrily.

Mom came to the entranceway a look of concern on her face. "What's the matter honey?"

The look of genuine worry soothed me a bit and I sighed, "Sam's not sick, I saw him down town with Jacob. He's been lying to me." I was surprised when my mom's expression instantly became more closed off. The concern was still there, but there was no question that she was hiding something, "You know what he's up to!"

The slight look of guilt that crossed her face was all the confirmation I needed. She held up her hands defensively, "Please Leah, trust him. It's not his fault."

I couldn't believe her. Why was my own mother taking his side, "Why can't you just tell me what's going on?"

Mom looked at me helplessly, "I wish I could tell you Leah, but it's nothing you need to worry about. Jacob says Sam will be back in a week."

"Why the hell does Jacob fucking Black have a say in any of this?" I screamed at her.

My mom realized her slip and quickly covered, "Nothing, he just caught the same thing as Sam a few months ago."

I couldn't believe this, my mom was lying to my face to cover for my boyfriend. It was obvious she wasn't going to give me any answers. "Whatever." With that witty departing line I turned and stomped up the stairs to my room.

I spent the rest of the week stewing. I didn't try calling Sam again, I wasn't some simpering cast-off. I wouldn't give him the satisfaction of calling him any more. That didn't keep me from glaring at Jacob whenever I saw him at school. I had never gotten to know the kid that well. I was friends with Rachel, but until recently the boy had just been in the category of annoying little kid.

I had gone through every possible situation. Were the elders involved in some kind of organized crime and using Sam and Jacob for legwork? Were Jacob and Sam gay and just too ashamed to come out? That might explain why they never wore shirts around each other.

My resolve not to seek Sam out lasted until Sunday. I was alone in the house when the phone rang. It was 11:30 and I was still in bed. Groggily getting up I stumbled down the hall and answered the annoying machine, "What?"

"Hey Leah." It was Seth, my thirteen year old brother. He worked at our dad's grocery store some weekends for extra cash. Before I could ask why he was calling he continued, "Sam just came in and rented a DVD."

"So?" I tried not to sound interested; it was pathetic that I was so starved for news on Sam that I actually cared about something as stupid as the fact that he was renting a movie.

"So he asked mom if he could use the phone. I heard him talking to Jacob, he's going to be watching it over at the Blacks'."

Despite my mood I grinned, "Thanks Seth."

"No problem."

I quickly went back to my room to change. Billy was fishing with my dad and Charlie Swan today. There would be no way for Sam to duck out on me again. It took fifteen minutes to get dressed and on the road. I made it to the Blacks' house in record time. I remembered the last time I had come it had been for a barbecue. Jacob had spent the whole time mooning over the Swan girl. I wondered if he was still into her now that she had been messed up by a bear.

I pulled into the driveway and put the truck in park. I stormed towards the front door, I was going to get some answers. Before I could knock the door swung open revealing a shirtless Jacob Black. I was momentarily distracted by the very impressive muscles now at eye level. The view was mared by a large expanse of white gauze along his right side. I briefly wondered what had happened. However I didn't ask, on the list of things I needed to know, the source of Jacob's injuries was pretty low down. "I'm here for Sam."

"He's not..."

"I know he's watching a movie here today. I'm not leaving." I wasn't going to budge on this.

Jacob closed his eyes and sighed. Seeming to gather his patience he said, "Fine, come in Leah."

The den at the Blacks' had one lazy-boy and an old couch that was long past its prime. Sam sat in the lazy boy with his back rigid. I was surprised to see Bella curled up on the couch at the end furthest from Sam. Her feet were tucked under her and she looked almost as tense as Sam. When I came in she turned to face me and gave me a shy but friendly smile. I gasped at the sight of her face. It was one thing to be told she had been mauled by a bear, it was another to see it. I tried to act normally and said, "Hi Bella." As pissed as I was at Sam and Jacob, there was no reason to take it out on the girl.

My eyes were brought back to Sam when he ground out, "Why did you let her in?"

I tried not to let the hurt from his words show on my face. I must not have done a very good job because Bella turned to him and said sharply, "Sam!" She sounded so familiar with him that any friendliness I may have felt towards her evaporated. The familiarity meant she had been spending time with him since he had disappeared on me.

Jacob came up behind me and spoke to Sam, "Talk to her Sam, you can handle it."

As surprised as I was to see Jacob giving Sam an order, I was even more surprised when my boyfriend ducked his head in a subtle show of submission. What the hell was going on? Jacob then slipped by me and collapsed on the couch next to Bella.

Sam looked back at me and for a second his bitter angry mask fell and he was my old Sam. His face relaxed and he looked at me almost wistfully. Then the mask was back and he stood angrily. He walked past me and towards the front door. As he passed he said, "Let's talk outside."

Even though it was a cool spring day he didn't put a shirt on as he headed out the front door. With a grace he hadn't possessed before his disappearance he headed down to my dad's truck. By the time I had caught up to him he had slid into the driver's seat and held out his hand for the keys.

I was a bit surprised when he just turned the engine on before turning to talk to me. "I'm sorry about disappearing on you Lee Lee."

I just glared at him, if he thought he was getting out of this with an apology and a pet name he had another thing coming. He ran a hand through his buzzed hair, "Is it too much to ask that you trust me?" There was a definite note of desperation in his voice.

I felt some of my anger towards him soften. Something was seriously wrong with him. He was acting drastically different than the Sam I had talked to weeks ago. "Why couldn't you have just called me?"

Sam frowned before admitting, "At first it was because I couldn't. But the past week was because as long as I didn't talk to you, you couldn't dump me."

"What?" He knew as well as I did that I was crazy about him. I had been hoping he would ask me to marry him when I finally graduated high school.

He looked back at the Blacks' house and spat, "I'm not a good person to be around anymore."

He was literally shaking with anger. As I reached out a hand to calm him he pulled back abruptly. That was it! "What the hell did Jacob do to you."

That seemed to surprise Sam. "Jake didn't do anything. He's been helping me as much as he can. It's not his fault." He sighed, " Hell, it's not even her fault."

"Her? You mean Bella. Why would it be her fault?"

Sam shook his head, "Look Leah, there's a lot of stuff in my life that I can't tell you about. I wish I could, but for the safety of you and our people I just can't."

Sam was many things, but a good liar was not one of them. I reached for his hand as gently as I could and I was happy when he didn't pull away. "I believe you."

His face relaxed slightly and there was a trace of hope on it. "My life's different now Leah. I'm going to be gone a lot of the time and I won't be able to say where."

I looked down hoping he wouldn't see the hurt on my face. "Do my parents know what you're doing?" He nodded. "Does Swan know?"

He nodded again but before I could complain he cut me off, "She found out by accident when Jake did. Believe me Leah, I wish I never had."

He pulled back from me again and stepped back from the still running car. "This is your chance to get out Leah, get far far away from this."

"Do you want me to leave?" I asked.

Sam looked away and I could see he was ashamed, "No."

Stepping forward I wrapped my hands around his waist. I looked up at him and said, "I trust you Sam." He bent down and kissed me. I ignored the unnatural heat coming off his body and stepped back to the truck. Turning it off and pocketing the key I held out my hand to him. He raised a questioning eyebrow. "Aren't we watching a movie with your new friends."

Sam glanced up at the house and for a second I thought he would argue. I was pleased when he just sighed and let me lead him back to Jacob's. When we reached the front door I said, "I trust you Sam, but if I find out this all some kind of trick or gang or something, I'm out."

Sam nodded, "That's more than fair Leah." I nodded. Good. I loved him, but I wouldn't be taken for a fool. I was no one's victim.


	9. Division of Loyalty

Don't own these characters, never will.

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Bella's P.O.V.

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After Sam was able to see Leah again his control got significantly better. She seemed to calm him in a way that Jacob couldn't. Unfortunately I didn't get a chance to know Leah very well since Sam did his best to keep her away from me. I did however get to see all too much of Jared and Paul, the next two Quileute to phase.

Jared wasn't so bad, he had been friends with Sam before the two of them had phased, and seemed to accept his new status as a wolf. Paul on the other hand hated me. He made it very clear that he blamed me for turning him into a wolf, he even tried to attack me on several occasions.

Luckily Jacob was always there to pull him off. I was pretty confident that I could stop Paul if I wanted, but I still hated fighting. Wrestling with Jacob was a far cry from actually trying to fend off a bloodthirsty werewolf. Besides part of me agreed with Paul, maybe if I left, the boys would stop phasing.

Of course Jacob disagreed vehemently. He argued that the Cullens had been in forks for years without a Quileute boy running a wolf related fever. Sam and Jared grudgingly agreed that it looked like the wolves phased from the threat of vampires, not their presence alone.

That didn't make me feel any better when Jacob mentioned Embry's high fever or Quil's sudden growth spurt.

It was May. Forks high would soon be letting out for the summer. Even though I wasn't registered I found myself noticing the date. The official story was that Charlie had enrolled me in a new school in Seattle. I had managed to keep myself out of sight up until now and was glad of it. As much as I missed the few friends I had left at Forks high I couldn't face the attention my scars and pale appearance would attract.

Whenever I stopped by Charlie's I would check my e-mail on the old computer in my room. I was happy to hear from Angela regularly and I would occasionally find a letter from Mike in my inbox. It was from him that I learned no one believed the private school story. Apparently it was widely accepted that Charlie had me committed.

I would have laughed if not for the fact that he had seriously considered doing just that during the months after Edward left.

Jacob and I still ran the occasional patrol together, but more and more of his time was being taken up by pack responsibilities. I was lonely, but I couldn't resent him for my loneliness. He and Sam were burning the candle at both ends trying to keep La Push safe from Victoria as well as acclimating Paul and Jared to their new lives. I helped as much as I could, patrolling during the shifts the guys had trouble covering.

After Jacob's injury, he and Sam had decided to make sure there was always at least two pack members patrolling together. Victoria was just too dangerous to face alone.

A couple of weeks after Paul phased I was surprised to hear him coming towards my cabin in his human form. Even though his feet barely made a sound in the forest, there was nothing he could do about his heavy heart beat. I could tell it was him by the sound, like him it was always angry and racing.

It was 2:30 AM, Jared and Sam had just left for their patrol and Jacob was at Billy's sleeping. I wondered why Paul wasn't in his bed. Sleep was not a luxury any of the pack could afford to skip.

Before long his scent reached me and I put down the book I was reading outside my cabin. Despite the fact that my home had become an unofficial gathering place for the young pack, Paul never spent more time here than absolutely necessary. "You just missed Sam. He and Jared left twenty minutes ago."

I spoke in his general direction not bothering to raise my voice, knowing he would hear me clearly. I briefly wondered why he wasn't in his wolf form if he was running through the forest. Jacob always said that it was one of the things that made being a wolf worth it.

The surly teen emerged from the forest into the clearing in front of my cabin. Like all the wolves he now looked closer to twenty five than the nineteen he really was. As usual his face was a mask of anger and resentment. He glared at me and laughed angrily, "Jacob and Sam want me at home sleeping."

"Oh." I guess that explained the lack of a wolf form then. If he was skipping out on sleep he probably wouldn't want Jacob finding out. Jacob didn't like forcing his will on the others, but he would if something they were doing would hurt the pack or themselves. So far the only wolf he had used it on more than once was Paul.

The wolf in question still hadn't looked away from me. Normally I was quite comfortable sitting in silence, but Paul's blatant hostility was putting me on edge. For lack of anything better to say I asked, "Are you hungry? I can fix you something to eat."

Paul laughed again this time there was an edge of incredulity to it. "Do you really think you're fooling me with the innocent little girl act? I'm not blind like everyone else!"

I was slightly confused by the question and asked, "What?"

He shook his head in disbelief, he didn't seem to register my question. "You've got Jacob wrapped around your little finger. The elders are letting you live on our land. Sam trusts you enough to patrol with him."

He seemed to be running through an internal checklist of grievances. He was shaking so much his edges were looking blurry and I was starting to worry. Sam and Jared had left twenty one minutes ago. Jacob was sleeping at home. How long would it take them to get here if Paul phased?

"Paul, why did you come here?" I hated the way my voice shook slightly when I asked the question. Intellectually I knew I was stronger than Paul, but facing a potentially violent man who outweighed me by over a hundred pounds made me feel very small. It was a human reaction that was hard to shake off.

This time he heard my question. Looking me straight in the eye he said, "Jake won't put you down, but I can, before you hurt any of my people." With that he began charging me.

Paul was nowhere near as fluid in his transformations as Jacob and his attack paused for a fraction of a second as he burst out of his pants and sneakers. Chiseled muscle was instantly replaced with fur. The moments' pause was enough to let me escape his first lunge.

My home was not so lucky. I dodged to the side and Paul's momentum carried him through the front wall of my tiny cabin. I heard the distant howls of Sam and Jared over the splintering wood as they became aware of Paul's phasing. They were depressingly far away.

Without thinking I began running towards them. In the background I heard Paul picking himself up and begining to sprint after me. I had a 127 yard head start. Knowing how fast Paul could run I calculated that I had another 1856 yards before he would make up the distance between us. Estimating Sam and Jared's location meant they would still be at least two miles away when Paul caught up to me. I cursed my vampiric mind for it's iron clad ability to calculate things so easily. I would have to face Paul.

All too quickly the distance between us was eaten up and I could almost feel him snapping at my heels. My fight or flight response shifted like a badly maintained clutch. Turning 180 degrees my momentum was still carrying me forward at a blinding speed.

I plunged my fingers into the forest floor, leaving two ten foot long drag marks in the soft earth. My rapid deceleration took Paul completely by surprise just like it had Jacob the first time I tried this move. To avoid a collision Paul attempted to leap over me. The world slowed down as Paul soared above me at over ninety miles an hour revealing his unprotected stomach.

My fear had been entirely replaced with rage and bloodlust. This thug had tried to murder me in cold blood. He had destroyed my home. Not thinking of any of the possible consequences, I leapt at his underside and wrapped him in a bear hug. My arms and legs were nowhere near long enough to wrap all the way around his body, but my fingers and heels dug into his sides like they were made of stirofoam. I heard Paul let out a yelp of pain, his legs buckling as he hit the ground. The two of us were dragged across the forest floor, my back barely feeling the rocks, earth, and roots tearing my clothing to shreds.

Paul tried to twist his head in a way that would let his teeth tear at me, but it was difficult for him. The only thing I could do from this position was squeeze as hard as I could. Paul howled in pain as crushed the air from his lungs. Lurching cracks reverberated through his chest as his ribs broke. Part of me wanted to be sick at the thought that I was causing those sounds, but most of my mind reveled in it.

Paul writhed and twisted like a snake that had been cut in half. Somehow he managed to bend himself into a crescent and dig his teeth into my leg where it was pinned to his side. For the first time since becoming a vampire I felt real physical pain as his teeth penetrated my stone flesh.

Using every once of his strength he tore me off him and flung me away. I didn't go easily, my fingers dug four deep trenches from below each of his shoulder blades, following his ribs for over a foot.

I flew through the air and crashed through several trees before hitting the ground. Despite the pain in my leg, it worked well enough and I could still put weight on it. I lowered myself into a crouch and faced Paul. It seemed that throwing me off him had taken what was left of his strength. He lay on his side unable to get to his feet no more than fifty yards away. His head was off the ground trying to keep me in sight his eyes rolling in fear like a spooked horse.

For a timeless moment we stared each other down. As my muscles began coiling to spring, Paul suddenly looked to the west. The action was enough to clear some of the red haze from my vision and I heard the approaching paws of Sam and Jared. I was mostly relieved and, though I didn't want to admit it to myself, a little disappointed that my kill would be stolen.

That thought was enough to clear the rest of my violent haze. I didn't want to be a monster. I hadn't killed anyone yet and I didn't want Paul to be my first.

Any relief I may have felt at the arrival of Sam and Jared was instantly doused when they emerged from the forest and immediately put themselves between me and Paul. Both faced me with their hackles raised. Of course they would side with their pack member. The realization hit me like a bucket of ice water. It didn't mater that he had come to my home with plans to murder me. It didn't matter that I had been defending myself. He was pack and I was just a filthy leech.

I new Sam didn't trust me, but I thought he at least respected me a little. I had spent hours patrolling with him, helping protect his people from a psychotic vampire. Didn't that get me anything? Apparently not, judging from the rage boiling behind his and Jared's eyes.

I couldn't take this anymore. I turned on my heel and ran. I ran and I didn't stop. I was vaguely aware that they weren't following me. Over the past weeks I had felt Jacob distancing himself from me more and more as he became more tied to the pack. Would this be enough to force him to choose sides? I wasn't going to stick around to find out. I couldn't stand seeing my Jacob looking at me the way Sam and Jared had.

It was better this way. A clean break. A choked laugh bubbled up in my throat that ended up coming out as a sob. I felt a gaping hole in my chest open up, one that had nothing to do with Edward.

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Jacob's P.O.V.

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"Jacob wake up." I heard my dad calling me and slowly opened my eyes. The light was on and I was momentarily blinded by the brightness. Sitting up I blinked a few times, clearing my vision.

Dad was sitting in his wheel chair wearing only the boxers he slept in. He was parked at the entrance to my room, it was as far as he could get due to the mess I had made of it. I glanced at the clock and saw that it was two thirty in the morning.

The bottom fell out of my stomach. People only woke you in the middle of the night if something horrible had happened. My mind quickly snapped to the night my mom hadn't come home. "What happened?"

Dad's face was creased with worry. "Sam called. He said Bella nearly killed Paul."

"What!?" I shouted jumping out of bed, not caring that I had gone to sleep naked.

"Sam didn't go into details, just that Paul's got eight broken ribs and that she would have killed him if he and Jared hadn't shown up."

"Bullshit." There was no way Bells would have done that, not even to Paul. I had already rolled up a pair of cut off sweats and was heading for the door.

"You know what this means Jacob." Dad looked like he hated saying it and for a second I hated him. "You know I like her too, but this just proves what we've been saying all along. She's too dangerous to keep around."

I pushed past him and didn't acknowledge what he had said. I ran out the back door and phased before I even reached the tree line. The second I was a wolf I yelled, "What the hell happened?"

Jared was the only one in wolf form and answered, "We don't know Jake. One minute we were patrolling, the next Paul was in our heads." I was assaulted with memories of him lunging at Bella and destroying her house, the chase, and finally the pain as Bella used a trick that had worked on me to try and crush the life out of Paul. The memories were all muddled and mixed together, Paul's volatile emotions making him difficult to understand, even through the pack link. "She fucked him up bad Jake."

I heard from Jared that they were at Bella's cabin. "I'll be there soon."

It only took five minutes get to the ruins that had once been Bella's. Jared met me just outside the clearing. We phased back together and got dressed. Sam was standing next to Paul who was lying prone on top of the picnic table we had set up near the barbecue. Even in the dim light of the moon I could see the road rash Paul had gotten from skidding across the forest floor. His chest looked like one massive bruise and there were four deep scratches on each side of his rib cage.

Not feeling much pity for him I said to Sam, "Lift him up."

Sam looked at me uncertainly, "Are you sure that's..."

"Now." I cut him off, letting the Alpha creep into my voice.

Sam helped shift Paul into a sitting position and I noticed that he was studiously avoiding looking at me. "What happened?"

"Your pet vampire snapped. That's what happened."

I glared at him, I knew damn well Bella wouldn't just attack him. We smelled as bad to her as she did to us. I tried to reign in my temper. He had only phased a couple of weeks ago, it wasn't his fault if he just lost control and was too ashamed to admit it. As much as I wanted to beat the crap out of him for attacking Bella, as the Alpha I couldn't.

Suddenly something occurred to me, why was he out here in the first place? If he had needed to talk to Sam he could have just phased near home. There was no reason not to phase unless he was trying to keep people out of his head.

I felt tremors shooting down my arms as I asked, "Why did you walk here tonight Paul." Paul's eyes shot to mine I could read the guilt written there as if it had been carved across his flesh with a knife. The apoplectic rage that began coursing through me was too much for my system to handle. The emotion was so overpowering it even blocked my ability to phase.

I'm not exactly sure what happened after that, but the next thing I could remember, I was staring down at the mishappen mess that was left of Paul's face. Sam and Jared were trying to hold me off him. Sam was in his wolf form, head pushing against my chest while Jared had his arms wrapped around my waist serving as a dead weight. I was vaguely aware that my knuckles were raw and bloody.

Jared relaxed his hold on me slightly when he felt me trying to control my ragged breathing. Sam took this as a cue to phase back to human. He looked as pissed as I felt, "What the hell is wrong with you Jacob?"

I glared back at him but he didn't drop his eyes like he normally would. We stared each other down like that for a good minute, the silence was filled with Paul's gurgling breaths. Jared carefully let me go and I asked Sam, "What's the only reason Paul would have for walking to Bella's when no one else was around?"

Sam's eyes widened in realization no doubt replaying the memory of what he had seen in Paul's head. He looked away, but shook his head, "Paul wouldn't do that. He may hate her, but he knows how much she means to you." I could tell that he doubted his own words.

"She was running towards us when Paul was chasing her." Jared added hesitantly.

Both of them looked towards Paul's now mangled face with dawning understanding. It was one thing to lose control by accident. What Paul had done was cold and premeditated. I couldn't look at him anymore. Walking to the edge of the clearing I shouted over my shoulder, "Take him to my house and go get Sue, see what she can do for him."

I took off my pants and tied them to my ankle. Neither wolf asked me where I was going, I guess it was fairly obvious.


	10. Making A Choice

**Don't own even one of these characters.**

**Hope you enjoy, if you guys are still reading this story after ~30000 words then I consider it a success:)**

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Jacob's P.O.V.

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It took me almost twenty six hours to catch up to Bella. She had made it across the Canadian border, and up into the Rockies. It was lucky that she had made no effort to mask her trail or I would have lost her. When I finally found her she was sitting at the edge of a glacier watching a small trickle of water dripping into a stream that ran along the base. She was curled up with her knees to her chest. So little of her clothing remained that it was hard to spot her pale skin against the ice she sat on. I was fairly certain the only covering she had were the remains of the pair of jeans she wore when she was attacked at her cabin. I had found the remains of her shoes, bra, and tank top on the way here. There really wasn't much left of them after her fight with Paul.

I knew that she had heard me long before I arrived but she gave no indication of it. I quickly phased back to my human form and dressed. "Bella?"

Slowly she turned to face me, but wouldn't meet my eyes. Her face was crumpled in misery and I asked, "What's the matter Bells?"

The familiar nick name seemed enough to get her attention. She glanced up at me and whatever she saw seemed to make her relax a little. "You're not mad?" She asked.

That kind of confused me. "Of course I'm mad! Paul tried to kill you, he's lucky I didn't finish him off."

Bella's forehead wrinkled in confusion, "But he's you're brother, I would have killed him if Sam and Jared hadn't shown up."

Did she actually feel guilty for trying to protect herself from Paul? Before I could help myself I blurt out, "That's the stupidest thing I've ever heard."

She smiled weakly and I approached her cautiously. When she didn't cringe away I sat next to her on the chilly ice. Cold didn't bother me much anymore, but I was still glad for the layer of protection my pants provided me against the glacier. I slung an arm around Bella and asked, "What would ever make me take Paul's side in this mess."

Bella snuggled closer to my warmth and I had to suppress a shiver at her nonexistent body heat. As she pressed her body into mine I became painfully aware of the fact that she wasn't actually wearing a shirt. Just a friend. Just a friend. Just a friend. I began repeating over and over in my head.

"H-how is your l-leg?" I managed to stutter out.

Bella shrugged against me. Without lifting her head from my chest she answered, "Fine, the bite marks didn't even leave a scar."

We lapsed into silence again and I could feel the past twenty six hours catch up to me. I was hungry and exhausted, I could feel myself drifting off to sleep when I felt Bella shift next to me. At first when she pressed her lips lightly to my collar bone I wasn't sure what she was doing. I looked down to ask her and she met me half way. At that moment my empty stomach and sleep deprivation were completely forgotten. Bella Swan was actually kissing me!

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Bella's P.O.V.

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As hard as I found it to believe Jacob was still on my side after everything that had happened. I wasn't an idiot. I knew the rest of the pack would have a problem with the fact that I had nearly killed one of their own. They would without a doubt resent the fact that their Alpha was siding with an outsider. Still, as I sat curled up against Jacob's side I just couldn't bring myself to care about any of that.

I was slightly self conscious about the fact that I hadn't managed to find a replacement shirt after my encounter with Paul, but Jacob was doing an admirable job trying not to look.

Like before Jacob helped close that gaping wound in my chest and let me breathe easier. I inhaled lightly, taking in his heavy animalistic scent. He still smelt terrible, but at least it was comforting. For whatever reason he had chosen me over his pack, over his tribe. He was giving me so much despite the fact that I couldn't return the feelings he wanted.

How many times had I wished that Jacob were my brother so I could have some kind of claim on him? There was another option, I could stake a claim, give Jacob some of what he wanted in return for everything he had done for me.

I had to admit that I cared about Jacob more than any other individual out there, and I would be lying to myself if I said I didn't find him physically attractive. I just didn't think I could love him in the same all consuming way I had Edward.

There was still a hollow emptiness in me from where Edward had torn out my heart. Even if it didn't hurt anymore, I still felt empty. Could I really let Jacob try and fill it? If anyone could do it, it was him. Of course this all hinged on one big if. It would only work IF Jacob still wanted me that way.

As the sun began to rise I turned my face towards Jacob's collar bone and pressed my lips to his dark skin. He stiffened and his heart beat picked up. He looked down and I could almost feel the question form on his lips. Taking the initiative I lifted my head from his chest and kissed him.

I wasn't surprised when Jacob kissed me back, but I was surprised at how natural it felt. True, part of my body was rebelling at being this close to its only natural enemy. But for the most part it was warm and comforting and right.

Jacob quickly gained confidence and flipped me onto my back. He was a little awkward, but it wasn't like I had much experience with this either. Our kiss deepened and I was surprised when I began to feel aroused. Jacob's rapid heart beat brought a surge of venom to my mouth.

Suddenly Jacob was off me and my ears were filled with the sounds of him heaving up the contents of his stomach into the icy stream below the glacier. The smell of bile filled the air. I don't think I've ever heard someone gag as violently as Jacob currently was. If it were still possible I would have flushed red in embarrassment.

Self-consciously covering my chest with one arm I ran soothing circles over Jacob's back as he continued to heave into to the stream. It was five minutes before he could talk again. The first time he was incomprehensible, "What?" I asked.

Jacob turned his head to the side and gave me a weak smile that reminded me of him before becoming a wolf, "Completely worth it." He then turned back to the stream. I was surprised at the happy leap my stomach made when he said that. Despite all this he was still willing to give it a chance.

I continued to rub circles on his back and eventually said, "I guess we'll have to be careful if we want to do that again." Jacob nodded without looking away from the stream.

The trip back took Jacob and I a couple of days. Jacob spent the first ten hours asleep while I hunted down some hikers to steal a shirt. Just because Jacob and I were giving dating a try didn't mean I was comfortable walking around topless in front of him. While I waited for him to wake up I was able to run into the foot hills and catch something to eat.

Remembering Jacob's adverse reaction to my venom I made sure not a drop tainted the meat of the deer I had drained. I wasn't really feeling up to cooking it, but Jacob had been getting used to eating meat raw when in his wolf form.

When he woke he kissed me gently on the lips before grinning when he saw the deer carcase. Neither of us had a phone so Jacob had to phase to get news from the pack anyway. I waited patiently as he ate, sure he was talking to Sam and possibly Jared.

When he phased back his expression was troubled. "What's wrong?" I asked, I was surprised that I was actually worried about Paul.

Jacob frowned, reading my worry for what it was, "Paul's fine. His ribs are better, but his nose didn't set right."

Guilt twisted in my stomach, but I was confused, "I don't remember breaking his nose."

Jacob gave a smug smile, "You didn't."

Oh, I guess Jacob took a bit of a detour before coming to find me. Before I could admonish him he continued. "That's not what's worrying me. Dad was with Sam, he's really pissed at me. He thinks my coming after you is leaving my people unprotected." I noticed a slight tremor in his arms as he continued, "I just don't understand why they can't trust you, you've spent more time running patrols than any of us."

I didn't really want to think about how my presence in Jacob's life was causing him so much trouble and touched his arm, "Let's head back home so your dad doesn't have any more reason to hate me." Jacob nodded and got ready to leave. The mention of home saddened me, I had grown attached to my little cabin I would miss it now that it was gone and wondered where I could stay. My control was pretty good, maybe I could move back to Charlie's?

Despite the inevitable confrontation that would occur when we got home I found myself enjoying the long run. The first day was passed in companionable silence as I ran beside Jacob. The miles flew by and when night came he slept in the open with his arms wrapped around me.

While I was unable to sleep, I enjoyed the human contact. The past couple of months Jacob had been keeping a respectful distance between us and I found that I had missed the casual touches. I began to understand why Edward had always said he loved watching me sleep. When Jacob was unconscious I could pretend that we were just two normal teenagers. No wolves or vampires, just us.

There wasn't much time for conversation since Jacob couldn't really talk in his wolf form, but it was obvious that he was happier than I had seen him since his first transformation. He would goof around a little more and seemed lighter on his feet. Honestly, if I had known he would react this way to a kiss I would have done it a lot sooner. It gave me a warm feeling in the pit of my stomach seeing him so happy.

Sam met us at the American border. He flanked Jacob's right side while I ran at his left. It took me a while to realize we were headed to my former cabin. I usually took that route unconsciously and hadn't remembered that there was little more left than rubble. I guess I would have to try and salvage what I could from the ruins before heading back to Charlie's. Not something I was looking forward to.

The smell of humans and fresh sawdust caught my nose as we neared the clearing and I could hear the heavy chug of a gas engine. I slowed and gave Jacob a questioning look. He merely winked at me, which looked very odd coming from a wolf's face, then stopped running. I continued for a few more yards to give him some privacy to phase back. He and Sam soon joined and me. Jacob grinned and slung an arm over my shoulder, "Go see your surprise."

Giving him a skeptical look I turned back towards the cabin. I already had a fair idea of what I would find, but was still surprised at what I saw when I entered the clearing. Charlie and Harry Clearwater were both there. My dad had rented some power tools and a portable generator. I could see my personal belongings piled at one edge of the clearing, loosely covered with a tarp.

There was a large pile of splintered wood that had been removed from the cabin. Charlie and Harry had already managed to replace the back wall of my home and had put up fresh studs to frame the front door. I hadn't known Charlie was that good at carpentry.

It was about then that Harry noticed us. He put down the pencil he had been marking a sheet of plywood with and waved, "Welcome back Jacob, Bella."

Charlie looked up and hurried towards me. He stopped a few feet away, just like Billy had drilled into him. "You alright?"

I nodded and he said, "Billy told me you and one of the wolves got into a fight. He said you were alright but needed to calm down."

That wasn't exactly what happened, but if Charlie knew the real story he would probably try and kill Paul. That would probably end badly for Charlie. "We both just needed some time to cool off. Sorry about disappearing on you."

Charlie nodded, I could see the doubt in his eyes and wondered how much of the story that Billy had told him he actually believed. I glanced back at the house and felt my throat constrict slightly. Even after over a year in Forks, it still touched me whenever Charlie did something like this. I stepped forward and gave him an awkward hug, "Thanks for fixing my home dad."

He patted my back affectionately, "No problem Bella, I just hope we don't have to do this again."

I stepped back and Jacob remarked, "Don't worry Charlie, I'll keep Paul in line."

Charlie nodded, there was a pause and he shrugged, "Well better get back to work, this should be done in another couple of days."

I stepped forward and asked, "What can I do to help?"

"You just got back Bella, take a rest." Charlie hesitated, "Right, you don't get tired." He looked down at his work and said. "I guess you can give Harry a hand with the plywood."

I was about to do just that when Jacob grabbed my hand. "I'm gonna crash Bells." I nodded and he suddenly stepped forward and gave me a peck on the lips. Everyone in the clearing noticed it and I saw Sam frown. No guessing what he thought of Jacob's actions. Jacob ignored everyone an just walked over to the tarp covered sofa that had been removed from my cabin.

Not bothering to remove the tarp, he collapsed on the piece of furniture in a boneless sprawl. I was wondering if he was being purposely nonchalant but then remembered he had been running solid for the past twelve hours. I laughed when I realized from the sound of his heart beat that he was already completely unconscious.

Charlie had a knowing smile on his face, but Harry looked troubled. I decided to ignore both of them and get to work. It wasn't long before Harry and Charlie began to show signs of exhaustion. It was easy to forget how human they were.

I eventually insisted they go home. I worked through the night and by the time Jacob was waking, my home was almost as good as new. The plaster on the drywall was drying and the outer wall was ready to have siding applied. I was pleased with myself. While human I had never been coordinated enough to do this type of work, but now that I was a vampire learning things like this was laughably easy.

A lot had happened these past couple of days. Ironically the attempt on my life was not the most unsettling for me. Since I had been changed, most of my life had been focused coming to terms with it. That and making sure I didn't eat anyone by accident.

I had been cooking for Charlie, and e-mailing Renee. By kissing Jacob, I realized that I needed to move on and I didn't just mean from Edward. I couldn't just pretend I was the same teenage girl I had been months ago.

I wiped my hands off on my jeans and walked over to where Jacob was still sleeping on my couch. I smiled watching him so carefree. He had a massive responsibility to his people, but he had taken it up. He hated what he had become, but that hadn't kept him from spending hours with the newly phased wolves teaching them to control their new strength and tempers.

Maybe it was time I started moving on. How easy would it be to get stuck in a routine of hunting and patrolling the borders of Forks? Time didn't mean the same thing to me now that I was immortal and I was worried that I would look up one day and find a hundred years had sped by. I had never put much thought into what I would do with my future. Before Edward I had always leaned towards something in the field of literature. As I waited for Jacob to wake I mulled over the potential jobs available for a high school drop out stuck eternally in the body of an eighteen year old.

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**Author's Note:So Bella has decided to give a relationship with Jacob a try. As you may have guesed they still have plenty of challenges headed their way. The issue of imprinting, Victoria, the pack, and let's not forget everyones favourite family The Cullens. **


	11. Council Meeting

**As usual, I own nothing.**

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**Sorry for taking so long to update, by Beta took longer than expected to get the chapter back to me. On the plus side it gave me a chance to finish chapter 12, which was one of the few I skipped while writing part one.**

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Jacob's POV

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The miles back to LaPush had flown by in a blur. Even with the occasional mental intrusion from Sam or Jared it had felt like it was just me and Bells, flying across the terrain.

The only thing that had weighed me down was the whole mess with Paul. How the hell was I going to deal with him? I knew Sam was pissed at how I had handled the situation. He understood my reaction, but he didn't condone it.

Sometimes I wondered why he wasn't the Alpha. I know the whole phasing bit came more naturally to me than to the other wolves, but Sam was way better at keeping Jared and Paul in line.

I felt my arms begin to shake at the thought of how the bastard had attacked Bella. It was kind of funny in a way. The reason I was so angry with him wasn't because he could have killed her. I knew how strong she was and how inexperienced Paul still is. He was beyond lucky she hadn't bitten him. What pissed me off most was that Paul had almost turned Bella into a killer. I could see how hard she fought everyday to keep control of her bloodlust. I don't want her to become a monster because Paul needs to blame his change on someone.

I hadn't seen Paul since Bella and I got back from Canada.

Sam doesn't think I have it in me to deal with Bella if she ever goes off the deep end and starts killing people. To be honest I don't know if I could do it either. I'd like to think that I'm strong enough to make the right decision. I had promised myself while she was changing that if she started killing I would kill her myself.

At the time the promise had been easy because I knew that the Bella I had known would never let herself kill a human. All I would have been doing was killing the demon that had stolen her face.

As the months passed I had become attached to the new Bella. As hard as it was to admit, the transformation had been good for her. It had helped her finally move on from Cullen. True, she had been getting slowly better before the change, but I still saw how hollow she was. Somehow Laurent's venom had let her move on. Sometimes I still caught her looking at something wistfully, or holding her arms around her chest protectively and I knew that she was remembering him, but those instances were now few and far between.

I knew what people thought about Bella and I. The pack couldn't understand how I was still attracted to her. They couldn't see past the smell and scars and cold hard skin. The elders worried that I was splitting my loyalties too much. I knew my dad was angry that my first instinct was to run after Bella rather than deal with Paul's behaviour. I also knew that Bella was the main reason there was a tribal meeting tonight.

Maybe that was why I had convinced Bella to come with me. They didn't approve of her or our relationship, but they could damn well get used to it. Dad had already left for the meeting with Harry and I was just getting ready. I was actually making an effort to look presentable, not something that was easy to do considering I had outgrown most of my clothes since I started phasing.

Settling on the largest button up shirt I could find, I realized the cuffs were about three inches too short. I looked ridiculous. Giving up I took the shirt off and settled for a T-shirt. There was a knock on the door and judging from the lack of a heart beat I could guess Bella had finally arrived. I was surprised that it was already 8:00 P.M.

Grabbing the keys to the rabbit on the way to the front door I was greeted by Bella's icy-sweet scent. Opening the door I smiled, "Ready to go?"

She nodded and I leaned down to give her a peck on the lips. I loved the way her body arched into mine. I wanted to deepen the kiss, but the memory of what happened on the glacier held me back. I didn't really want to risk swallowing any more of her venom. Still, the casual show of affection was enough to make her duck her head slightly. I could almost imagine the blush that would have formed on her cheeks if she still possessed a pulse.

Lacing my fingers with hers, we walked to the Rabbit and made our way to the La Push community center. We didn't talk much on the drive over. I occasionally glanced over to her, even with the unnatural stillness she possessed as a vampire I could still read her like a book. Right now she was very nervous. As we parked I asked, "You okay facing Paul tonight."

Bella glanced at me and nodded. It had taken a while to convince her to come by tonight. She had wanted to keep her head down and hope people stopped noticing her, but that wouldn't work with the pack. They needed to accept that I wasn't going to let them drive her off.

I grinned at her, "Great, let's go show those superstitious old fogies that you're no more of a threat to La Push than the wolves."

She rolled her eyes. "That's me, the harmless pet vampire."

I would have said more, but suddenly Bella's head whipped towards the sidewalk. A second later I heard what she had. There, walking down the main street of La Push were Embry and Quil. Quil spotted the car first and nudged Embry. The two boys immediately left the sidewalk and headed across the parking lot in our direction.

I glanced at Bella. Ever since my change I had stopped hanging out with my two oldest friends. It wasn't just the lack of free time. I just felt like the farther away the two were from my life, the safer they'd be. They had stopped pestering me about the days of school I missed after the first month. Now they usually just ignored me when they saw me in the street or at school.

Quil in particular seemed to take my behaviour as a betrayal. I had kept this from Bella because I knew she would somehow find a way of blaming herself. I wondered why they were bothering coming to see me now.

I muttered, "Let me deal with them." Before slipping out of the car and facing my two former friends.

When they were about ten feet away from us Quil spoke up, "Hey Jake, where are the lackeys?" His tone was very hostile.

I inhaled a calming breath only to catch the unmistakable scent of wolf on the two boys. They both had it in them, just under the surface. I guess that meant they would be phasing soon. The two seemed more than a little creeped out and I realized I had been staring at them with a look of knowing pity. I didn't bother denying the lackey comment, most of the time I was seen outside of school I was with one or more of the pack. "They're inside."

"Bullshit, tonight's the council meeting." Quil spat.

"It is." I confirmed. Remembering the cover story I added, "They wanted to talk to us about a youth outreach program."

Quil let out a harsh laugh, "Of course they are. I almost forgot that we were in the presence of the THE Jacob Black. Golden child of the Quileute people."

I'll admit that stung a little. I felt my shoulders tense and a small tremor run through my hands. What could I say to these guys? 'Sorry I've been a dick lately, but until you turn into a monster I can't tell you what's going on?'

"Whose that in the car anyway, Rebecca?" Embry spoke for the first time.

I glanced behind me, I could clearly see Bella through the glass, but I guess the dusk light was a little weak for human eyes.

Bella heard the conversation as clear as day and decided to step out of the car. Quil or Embry gasped when they saw her scars and I wanted to punch whichever one was staring at her. Bella ducked her head enough to let the hair cover her face and said, "Hey guys, it's been a while."

"Hey Bella," Embry spoke a little uncertainly. However pissed he was with me, he didn't seem to want to air our dirty laundry in front of her. "How's that bike Jake fixed for you?"

She smiled at him and said, "I haven't had a chance to use it since my accident."

Quil looked at Bella suspiciously. I wondered if he was trying to figure out how she fit into my little cult. I wished I could explain what was going on, warn them about what may happen to them, but the council was unanimous in their belief that it was wrong to let them know. The risk of being discovered by the outside world was just too great.

Taking Bella's hand I looked back to the community center. "The meeting's supposed to start soon. I'll see you guys at school." The words came out a little more angrily than I had intended.

Quil shrugged, "Whatever." He then turned and walked back to the road.

Embry followed him but looked back to me as he was about to go out of sight. I could see how worried he was and kicked myself again for freaking those two out so badly. They should be able to enjoy the time they had left as humans. Before almost everything became tinted in an angry red haze.

I didn't say anything to Bella as we entered the community center, but she rubbed circles along the side of my palm with her thumb. I found the gesture more helpful in calming me down than any words she could have used.

Counting smells I could tell we were the last to arrive. As we stepped into the conference room, I quickly did a head count. Sam, Jared, and Paul were sitting on one side of a large conference table while the tribal council were on the other. Even Old Quil had come out for this.

Some of the council members looked surprised at Bella's presence and I noticed dad was frowning at our clasped hands. I could feel Bella's grip tighten at the less than friendly audience. I did my best to stifle a wince of pain from the bands of cool steel constricting around my fingers.

I glanced at Paul who was seated between Sam and Jared and noticed that even though his face had healed, his nose had set at an odd angle. I smirked in satisfaction, Paul saw my reaction and I could see his hands start to shake.

There were still three unoccupied chairs on the wolves' side of the table so I sat next to Sam with Bella at my left. It was Harry Clearwater that decided to break the awkward silence. "Look Jake, I know you're friends with Bella, but you can't just bring her to one of our meetings." I glared and he continued hastily, "You know I have nothing against you Bella, but this is supposed to be a tribal meeting."

Bella shifted uncomfortably and looked like she wanted to be in the room about as much as they wanted her here. I put a hand on her knee and spoke up, "I thought we were here to deal with what Paul did. That involves Bella."

Even though I was answering Harry's comment I didn't break eye contact from my dad. Dad returned my glare for a second before shaking his head in resignation. "Fine."

Dad leaned back in his wheel chair and looked from Bella to Paul. He finally turned to me and asked, "What are you going to do about this."

That took me by surprise. He expected me to solve this? Up until now I had been more or less following the council's lead. Most of their suggestions about how to run the pack made sense and were based on what had worked with previous packs. My job as Alpha had mostly consisted of making up patrolling schedules and keeping the guys from tearing each other apart. You could say this was the first time I had to actually do any real leadership. Once again I wished I hadn't been stuck as Alpha. Then again it was better me than Paul, that would have been a disaster.

How the hell did my dad expect me to come to a fair decision about the punishment of the man who had tried to murder my girlfriend? Dad was eyeing me expectantly, as was the rest of the council. I felt my ever present temper flare. Standing sharply, I slammed my palms down on the table with a resounding crack.

The movement was sudden and all the humans in the room started. "How the hell am I supposed to pick a punishment? I won't kill him, he can't go to jail, and he has too little control to be banished. What's left? Order him to stay away from her and stick him with night patrols? He tried to kill her! All because he blames her for turning him into wolf." I sighed and said a little more calmly, "Nothing I can do to him will make him think he was wrong about her."

I turned and glared at Paul, "What would you do if I went after one of your girlfriends because I thought she was pulling you away from the pack?" He remained silent and I didn't need to be phased to know what he was thinking, "It's the same and you know it. Bella hasn't come close to attacking any human since she was changed."

The rest of the council was silent and I manged to calm myself down. I sat down and glared at the table. I finally looked over at Paul again, "I'm ordering you to stay at least ten feet away from Bella from now on." It was a direct order. As much as I hated taking away anyone's free will, I didn't have a choice anymore.

I knew I was letting Paul off easy, but it seemed that he disagreed, "What if that leech attacks somebody?"

I was surprised when Jared spoke up, "At this point I'm thinking it's more likely for you to be the one that loses control."

Paul growled at his pack brother and Sam put a hand on his shoulder. "Jacob's right, you've shown you can't be trusted around her." He then looked at me, "Can you deal with Paul without loosing it again?" I understood the subtext clearly. Sam was reminding me that as Alpha I had to be Paul's leader no matter how much I disliked him.

I let out a barely audible growl. As usual Sam was right. I wished I could just ignore Paul for the next couple of months, but I couldn't. I spoke to council, "I don't like you Paul, but I'm not going to let that get in the way of our patrols."

Unconsciously, my left hand sought out Bella's right. As soon as I touched her chilly skin I calmed slightly. What did she think of all this? Did she think Paul was getting off easy? I doubted it, she had made it very clear that she just wanted to put this whole mess behind her. Still I wished there was some way of giving Paul an actual punishment. As childish as it was I wanted him to pay.

I was suddenly struck with an idea. Turning to Bella I asked, "How much did Charlie have to spend on building supplies?"

She looked embarrassed at the mention of her dad paying to fix the cabin. I felt a smile tugging at my lips; Bella's awkwardness around any kind of charity was endearing. Harry saved her from answering, "The materials and rentals came to just under seven hundred fifty dollars."

I nodded and turned back to Paul, "You're paying Charlie for that."

"What the hell? Where am I supposed to get that kind of money?" Paul sounded completely outraged. I simply stared him down until he looked away.

Billy let out a cough, "Now that that's dealt with, there are other issues we need to cover."

For the next hour the council discussed the various issues the tribe had to deal with that involved the wolves. The topics ranged from the leech Victoria, to a drug dealer that had been skulking around the high school. Apparently he had been pushing meth on the kids. Sam and I decided we would head over to the school tomorrow and 'talk' some sense into him. I vetoed the idea of bringing Paul or Jared along. Even Jared's control wasn't all that good yet and we wanted to scare the dealer off, not kill him.

The last item we had to deal with was the one I least wanted to. It was old Quil who asked me, "Do you know if my grandson is going to change?"

Before I could answer, Bella spoke up. "Quil and Embry have already changed, all they need to do is get angry and they'll phase."

She looked slightly embarrassed when everyone's attention turned to her. Sam and I shared a look, we had hoped that the Victoria problem would have been dealt with before the two were forced to change. Grasping at straws I said, "I know they're starting to smell like wolves but they might not phase if we kill Victoria soon."

Bella shook her head, "I'm sorry Jake, I know you don't want them to change but they're going to phase wether we kill Victoria or not."

"How can you be so sure?" Billy asked.

She sat up in her chair and looked across the conference table. "I can tell from the sound that their hearts have changed shape. Jake's heart sounds completely different than a human's even when he's not phased. All of the pack's do." Bella looked at me sadly, "Embry's heart has already changed, Quil's is almost there."

It was possible that she had a point. As wolves we relied more on sight and smell, but as a vampire Bella had a different focus. Of course she would notice the change in their heart beats. The pack looked at each other uneasily. Even Paul's face lost it's permanently etched scowl as he contemplated the addition of two more members to the pack. Two more of our friends would be stuck in this life until they died, probably violently. Old Quil sighed, "So it is only a matter of time."

It was Paul who said, "We should tell them what's going to happen to them."

Billy looked uneasy, but I spoke up, "I can't believe I'm saying this dad, but I agree with him. The only reason we haven't told them is to protect our secret. It's a hell of a lot safer if they know what's happening to them. They'll know to hide themselves."

Jared let out a short laugh, "Can you imagine if they phased in Mrs. Haven's class?" There was round of strained laughter at the mental image of one of them phasing in their English class.

Billy nodded hesitantly. "Guess we don't have much of a choice." He looked over the rest of the council, "Anyone object to telling the two boys?" No one objected and he looked back to me, "How should we tell them?"

"I'll do it, they're my friends." I felt Bella squeeze my knee comfortingly. I put my hand over hers and once again used the contact to calm myself down.

The meeting broke up quickly after that. People got into their cars and headed home. I sent Paul and Sam out for patrol. Jared and I would be relieving them at 1:00AM. Bella decided to run back to her cabin while I drove Billy home. I'd come by her place later to say hi before meeting up with Jared. Just another night being a protector.


	12. Cool Super Powers

**Standard Disclaimer. **

**For some reason this chapter was harder to write than any of my others, but I like how it turned out.**

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Bella's POV

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Jacob and I were heading out to his garage to meet Embry and Quil. It was finally time to tell them what they were turning into. When Jacob had asked me to come with him I had been surprised. Once the guys knew what I was I had a feeling that I was the last person they would want to see.

It was Sunday morning and as usual Jacob had spent the night at my cabin. It had become a habit when his patrols ended late and he didn't want to run the whole way home. I had a sneaking suspicion that he purposely designed his patrol route to end closer to my cabin than Billy's, but I wasn't complaining.

Jacob had decided to meet his friends at his garage since he needed to take care of some chores around his house that were overdue. Billy's decreased mobility meant that certain tasks became very difficult for him to do on his own.

I offered to help, but Jacob had waved me off. I knew he felt self conscious enough with all the food I was cooking for him and decided not to push the issue. That left me sitting on the couch in Billy's living room watching a fishing show while Jacob bustled around vacuuming, taking out the garbage and tossing a load of dirty laundry in the drier.

The fishing show was every bit as boring as it had been while I was alive. The fact that I was a vampire only made it so I could be bored on several levels. I was relieved when I finally heard Quil and Embry's voices off in the distance. They were too far away for me to make out what they were talking about. I stood up from the couch and went to see Jacob in the kitchen, "They're going to be here soon."

He looked down from changing the ceiling light and grinned, "Thanks."

He stepped towards me and kissed the corner of my mouth. Wrapping his arms around me I nuzzled into his chest, and let his familiar heat wash over me. Once again I let relief flood through me that Jacob was still in my life. I don't think I could have adapted to my vampirism if he hadn't stayed at my side. He buried his face in my hair and breathed in before speaking, "I guess it's time to tell them the bad news."

I could tell how little he wanted to do this and gave him an encouraging squeeze, "Don't worry, at least they won't be alone in this."

He held on for a moment longer before finally kissing my forehead and stepping back. We headed outside to wait for the guys to arrive.

Jacob and I were sitting on the front stoop by the time Quil and Embry came into sight at the end of the road. As they neared us I asked Jake, "Why were you set on me coming with you this morning?"

Jacob shrugged, "I figured they may like you better if they got to know you before they phased." Suddenly he grinned, "Besides what kind of boyfriend would I be if I didn't show you off to my friends?"

I couldn't help but laugh

"What's so funny?" Quil's angry voice interrupted our conversation and I saw the smile slide from Jacob's face.

I was more than a little annoyed at Quil for ruining Jacob's mood and gave him a glare. He and Embry hesitated in their steps. Identical looks of confusion crossed their faces. It took me a second to understand the reaction, but when I did I almost smiled. They were instinctively intimidated by me, but couldn't understand why.

Jacob answered Quil's question, "Bella was doubting her value as a trophy girlfriend."

At Embry and Quil looked at each other uncomfortably not sure whether they should laugh or not. I knew they felt awkward about the scars.

Jacob seemed to realize how his comment could have been taken and looked at me apologetically. "Jeez Bella, I didn't mean it like that."

I leaned up and pecked him on the lips. I spoke softly enough that the guys wouldn't hear, "It's okay Jacob. It's sweet that you don't notice them anymore."

I would have said more, but Quil once again interrupted us, "So why did you want us to meet you here?"

I sighed, guessing that it was time for Jacob to tell friends what their futures held.

"Just figured you guys would like to give the bikes a try." Jacob said after a moment's pause.

Or maybe he would be putting off the discussion for a little while. Quil looked a bit suspicious, but Embry latched onto the idea with an enthusiastic whoop, "Hell yeah! I've been wanting to give your Harley a try for months."

Jacob grinned, "Help me load them into Bella's truck and we'll go out to the dirt roads to practice."

Embry helped Jacob hoist the bikes into the back of truck, all the while talking Jacob's ear off. It seemed that months of Jacob being aloof and distant were instantly forgiven. Quil was a little harder to win over. He eyed Jacob suspiciously and when he thought Jacob and I were out of earshot whispered to Embry, "You think he's trying to bring us in on his cult?"

Embry shrugged away the concern, "Chill man, you know Jake's not that subtle."

The drive to the dirt roads was cramped. The small cab of my truck barely had room for Jacob so Embry and Quil were stuck bouncing around in the back with the bikes. It wasn't the safest or most legal arrangement, but none of the guys seemed to mind.

It surprised me how much I enjoyed the day we spent with the guys. At first I had thought the biking was a tool to get Quil and Embry in a good mood, but as the day wore on I realized that Jacob was doing this as much for himself as he was for them. For one day he got to be Jacob Black again, just goofing around with his friends. He wasn't Alpha, he wasn't a wolf, and he wasn't the tribe's leader. He was just Jacob. Once he told Embry and Quil what they were, their relationship would change. From then on he would be first and foremost their Alpha.

The four of us took turns racing the bikes up and down the roads and I would occasionally hear the heartbeats of the other pack members watching from beyond the tree line.

It was nearly five before Jacob finally decided to talk to Quil and Embry. A piece of the the Harley had begun to rattle and needed to be fixed. Jacob was busy rooting around the back of my truck for the proper tool. From the tense set of his shoulders I could tell his mind was anywhere but on the repair job. Leaving Quil and Embry arguing over what was the cause of the rattle, I walked up behind Jacob and ran my hand up and down his back hoping to sooth him.

He relaxed slightly under my touch and I whispered, "We don't have to do this today."

He sighed, "Yeah we do Bells." He pulled his hands out of the truck and touched my cheek gently, careful not to smudge it with grease. He bent down and kissed me on the forehead, "Wait here okay."

I nodded and he began walking back to where Quil and Embry stood with the bikes. "Hey guys, I think I need to take them home to fix 'em. Let's just pack them up."

"Oh come on Jake, it's barely five."

Jacob shrugged, "I know, but I spent a lot of time repairing these guys; it would be a shame to crash one because I skipped an easy maintenance job." He took the motorcycle from Quil and hoisted it effortlessly by the frame. Turning to face me he said, "Catch Bella."

Embry and Quil watched dumbstruck as the bike sailed thirty feet through the air into my waiting arms. I caught it by the frame effortlessly, taking a step back to cushion the catch, not wanting to damage the motorcycle.

As I hoisted the bike into the truck bed I heard Quil ask, "What the hell?"

When I turned back to them they were looking at us like they were trying to figure out the trick. Jacob turned back to his friends and said, "Look guys, we need to talk."

The guys turned their attention back to Jacob, suddenly uneasy. Neither of them was exactly sure what was about to happen, but both knew it was something serious.

"How did you do that Jake?" Embry asked hesitantly.

Jacob shrugged, "It's a long story. Short answer is that all the tribal myths about turning into wolves were true."

Quil and Embry looked at him like he was crazy. "So you and Bella are wolves?" Embry's words were completely incredulous.

Jacob shook his head, "I am, but Bella's something else." Seeing that they didn't believe him he turned to the woods and shouted, "Come on out Sam."

He needn't have raised his voice, Sam wasn't more than a couple dozen feet from the edge of the trees. A few seconds after hearing his name, the massive black wolf emerged from the forest. Quil and Embry reacted instantly. Embry sprinted for the truck, and began fumbling with the handle, all the while muttering "Holy shit. Holy shit. Holy shit." under his breath. When he managed to get the door open he threw himself into the cab. He had just managed to lock the door when he seemed to realize neither Jacob or I had moved.

During Embry's attempt to get to the truck Quil had been trying to drag Jacob away from Sam. He realized at about the same time as Embry that something was up, that it was odd that Jacob hadn't attempted to run from the wolf.

While I felt bad for so obviously terrifying Jacob's friends, Jacob seemed to find their reactions hilarious. He was doubled over laughing. I tried to put myself in Embry or Quil's shoes, a wolf taller than most horses just came out of the forest twenty feet from them. Every instinct they had was probably screaming at them to run from the giant predator.

Jacob managed to get control of himself after a few seconds and said to Sam, "Come on man phase back before you give one of them a heart attack. Sam obliged and his wolf form melted away while Quil and Embry watched in amazement.

Sam quickly slipped on his cutoffs and frowned at Jacob, "Was that really necessary?" He did his best to sound harsh, but I could hear the suppressed laughter in his words.

Embry unlocked the truck and opened the door. He looked equal parts amazed and embarrassed. He couldn't seem to tear his eyes from Sam. He sat hesitantly on the edge of the seat, unwilling to leave the protection of the vehicle. His face looked a little grey, "So you and Sam and Jared and Paul aren't a gang, you're a pack?"

Jacob sobered and nodded. "Yeah man."

Quil was now backing away from Sam and Jacob, bringing him towards the truck, "Did you bring us out here to kill us?"

Surprisingly it was Embry who said, "Geez Quil don't you remember the legends at all? They're supposed to protect the tribe from cold ones."

"That true?" Quil asked. Jacob and Sam both nodded, confirming Embry's words. The action was disturbingly synchronized, similar to how they moved as wolves. One mind two bodies. However, the action did seem to put Quil at ease. Now that he realized he wasn't going to be eaten he actually grinned, "That is so frigging cool!"

Both Sam and Jacob were taken back by the boy's enthusiasm. Sam shook his head, "Look I don't think you understand how serious this is."

Quil waved Sam off, "Are you kidding. It's awesome, you turn into giant wolves and fight vampires!"

Jacob looked a bit taken back by the enthusiasm, "Quil calm down. It's not a game, it's a responsibility that you and Embry are going to have to take very seriously." I'm not sure he intended to let that slip yet, but Quil picked up on it. He brightened when he realize he was going to be a wolf.

"No shit! I get that. But seriously what could be the downside to this?" Jacob was in front of Quil faster than I had ever seen him move in human form. To Quil it would almost have looked like he had just appeared there.

Turning his friend forcefully to face me he grabbed Quil's chin and made him look at me. "That's the downside Quil. If you fuck up once. Lose control once, the people closest to you pay for it."

Quil realized what Jacob was showing him, "It wasn't a bear that did that."

I shook my head, but felt the need to defend Jacob, "Jake saved me from a vampire that was feeding on me. We were both very lucky to survive the attack ."

It was Embry who realized what that meant. "So the vampire bit you?" He was eyeing me warily, quickly putting two and two together. I was super strong, and I wasn't a wolf. The next question was addressed to Jacob, though neither Embry or Quil took their eyes off me, "Aren't vampires the bad guys?"

Sam answered, "Most are, but Jacob convinced the council to give her a chance."

The guys were still looking at me warily and I tried to put them at ease, "If it makes you feel better, you both smell like wet dog." I exaggerated a deep breath and made a face, "Wet dog that's past it's prime."

The guys looked back to Jacob uncertainly. "She's the same girl you were biking with all day."

They still eyed me warily, but as the evening wore they started to relax around me. Jacob and Sam answered their questions about what it meant to be wolves and how they phased. They tried to hide their excitement, but by the seven o'clock Quil and Embry were trying to make the other angry in order to force a phase. Both of them wanted to get a chance to try out their new super powers.

Sam and Jacob watched with a mixture of amusement and frustration as Quil and Embry hurled more and more elaborate insults at each other. It was Embry that phased first, his massive form bursting out of his jeans like a furry explosion. Quil was so angry Embry had beat him to the change that he soon joined his new brothers.

Jacob quickly shepherded his friends into the woods to keep them out of sight while Sam gathered up the boys' shredded clothes. I knew it wasn't a good idea to hang around the newly phased wolves. They were in a lot of pain from the change and wounded animals of any kind were likely to lash out. I volunteered to take the truck back to Billy's and tell him about Quil and Embry. That way Sam would be free to give Jacob a hand.

As I drove down the darkening roads I briefly wondered why so many boys were phasing. I knew Victoria was dangerous, but did she really warrant having six wolves to guard the tribe?


	13. Imprinting and Emily

**Usual disclaimer, I don't own the characters.**

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Imprinting and Emily

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Bella's P.O.V

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Life for the pack became easier after Quil and Embry phased. Now that there were six wolves and one vampire patrolling, the guys actually got a chance to catch up on their sleep. Even though school had been let out for the summer, the council had managed to convince some of the teachers at the res school to let the boys make up some of their classes during their vacation.

I was glad Jacob wasn't giving up on his school work. He was smarter than he gave himself credit for and it would have been a shame for him to waste it.

I was surprised that neither Quil or Embry instantly hated me the way the others had. Part of it was definitely Jacob having them get to know me before they phased. Though I has a sneaking suspicion Quil was being overly friendly because he knew it annoyed Paul.

Occasionally some of the pack would take a day off and just hang out together. They seemed to draw a certain amount of comfort from being near each other even when they were in their human form. While Jacob tended to spend his free time with Embry and Quil. Sam was definitely no stranger to the Blacks' house. Every now and then he would bring Leah over to watch a movie or to play on the archaic Nintendo Jacob had hooked up to the TV. I think both boys were glad for the temporary escape from the supernatural world and their responsibilities in it.

Despite the time Leah and I spent together I never really got a chance to know her. Sam always made sure he was positioned between me and his girlfriend. Never letting her get too close. The man's attitude annoyed me, but I couldn't really do fault him on it. He was right, I was dangerous.

I was curious when things suddenly changed. Sam stopped spending his free time with the other wolves. He became very tense whenever he was around me, and I kept overhearing the boys talking about someone called Emily and something called imprinting. I wasn't able to learn much about it because they would always clam up whenever they realized I could hear them.

Maybe I would have been more curious about their conversations and Sam's personal life if Jacob's behaviour hadn't suddenly changed as well. Almost immediately after Sam began spending time away from the pack, Jacob became very moody. Unlike Sam, he began spending as much time in the woods with me and the pack as possible. He would bring his summer homework to my cabin and work on it there rather than his place. The few times he went anywhere, be it Port Angeles, or even downtown Forks he would hug me like it was the last time I was ever going to see him.

His behaviour terrified me, there was desperation in every kiss or touch we shared. It was just like Edward in the days before he left. I couldn't handle losing Jacob, not after Edward. I was a nervous wreck, I wished I could just confront him and demand to know what his problem was, but I couldn't. I couldn't face the possibility that he was going to leave me like Edward had. Asking him would make it real.

One night I was surprised to realize that I had once again started wrapping my arms around myself unconsciously. A habit I had given up when my heart stopped beating. The only difference was that the ache I was trying to suppress was for a different boy, one who was technically still here.

Things may have gone on like that indefinitely if not for the accident. Jacob and I had been out hunting deep in the woods. I had scented a couple of animal trails, but nothing had really peeked my interest. Despite the almost black colour of my eyes, I just couldn't summon the energy to chase after any of the pesky wildlife.

The only reason I was out now was because Charlie had begun smelling a bit too appetizing than was safe. As usual Jacob loped along beside me. The weather was uncharacteristically sunny for Forks and whenever the light broke through the tree canopy my skin would glitter like it was made of diamonds. When Jacob and I ran like this I could almost forget the strange tension that had been between us these past few weeks.

As if Murphy had been waiting for me to relax before enacting his law, Jacob suddenly tensed. In less than a heartbeat he turned 180 degrees and began sprinting back towards La Push. Something must have been very wrong if he hadn't even taken the time to phase back and tell me what had happened. I followed him as fast as I could, pushing my legs to keep up.

He quickly outpaced me, but his trail was easy to follow. Rather than head back to La Push his trail veered off into the mountains. We usually avoided this area while hunting because they were crisscrossed with heavily frequented hiking trails.

Sam had traded off his patrols for the past couple of weeks in order to get a few days off. I think Embry had mentioned that he was camping somewhere around here. I smelt it before I arrived, it was impossible not to, the entire forest was saturated with the scent of fresh human blood.

I felt venom fill my mouth as my throat burst into flames. I couldn't think of anything except that smell. A second later I saw the source. Jacob and Sam were standing over a badly mauled woman. Blood poured from her face and arms. The wounds were eerily similar to mine. Neither of the boys were wearing any clothes and I had a sinking feeling that Sam had been the one to attack her.

Sam looked like he was in shock while Jacob was frantically tying a tourniquet onto the woman's arm with the leg of his sweatpants. We were miles away from a road, and at least a twenty three miles from the Forks hospital.

"Sh-she needs a doctor." Sam stumbled over his words.

Jacob carefully picked the woman up in a bridal carry. She moaned and held her arm protectively against her stomach. "Don't worry Sam, we'll get her help."

I couldn't tear my eyes away from the blood still pouring out of the girl. My mind instantly calculated how long until she bled out and compared it to how fast Jacob could run in his human form. She would die before he reached the road. Maybe they would let me have what was left? The thought came into my head before I could push it away. The instant disgust I felt with myself managed to push the blood lust aside for a second, let me think more rationally.

There was a way to get her help before she died. "Let me carry her."

That snapped Sam out of his shock as surely as if I had thrown him into the ocean. He stepped in front of the woman and even in his human form I could see his hackles raise. "Stay the fuck away from her leech."

We didn't have time for this, "Jacob's not fast enough Sam, she's loosing too much blood. You'll be able to run beside us. We can save her." I hoped that was enough to convince him because my lungs were out of air.

For an endless second Sam seemed torn between his mistrust of what I was and his obvious need to help the woman. Suddenly his face crumbled and he turned to Jacob. "Let Bella carry her."

Jacob nodded, there was no time for talk, no time to wonder why Jacob was letting Sam take the lead with this girl's life. As soon as she was in my arms I turned in the direction of the hospital and took off. Second's later Sam and Jacob were flanking me, easily able to keep up in their wolf forms. The speed relieved some overwhelming smell of blood, but I could feel the venom filling my mouth. I was surprised when I saw that Jacob was pulling ahead of us and wondered if he was going to try and reach the hospital first to warn the doctors that we were coming.

I fought the thirst with everything I had while I pushed my legs to their limit. My strides were thirty yards apart and the trees whipped by. When we were halfway there I risked a glance down at the woman's face. Her eyes were wide with fear. She was of native descent, possibly Quileute and I had to wonder if she knew what I was. Or if she was even aware enough of her surroundings to notice how cold my skin was.

For a moment my eyes locked on the bloody gouges on her face and I almost stumbled. No! I needed to focus on getting her out of here. The story of Emmett's transformation suddenly burst into my mind. Rosally had carried Emmett over a hundred miles to get Carlisle to save him. I drew strength from that story. If she could do it then so could I. Clenching my teeth tight enough to bite through titanium I pushed on.

It seemed to take forever to get to Fork's General though in reality it took less than thirteen minutes. It was blind luck that Fork's General was on the very edge of the town and bordered forest, I don't think Sam would have bothered phasing back to hide from people. I wondered if it was just guilt pushing the desperation I had seen in his eyes when he had let Jacob hand her over to me.

As we neared the edge of the woods and began slowing our sprint I heard two distinct heartbeats. One belonged to Jacob, the other to Paul. He must have phased some time while we had been running. They were standing at the very edge of the trees. Jacob was still stark naked, while Paul was wearing cutoff shorts and a baggy T-shirt that was a size too small. As soon as Jacob saw us he shouted, "Embry's gone to tell the doctors about Emily."

Paul held out his arms for her. For a second I felt a growl rise in my throat. She was my kill! I froze at that thought. The urge to bolt and keep her all to myself was overpowering. It was taking everything I had not to run. I couldn't hand her over to him, the best I could do was stay as still as stone. I felt Sam come up behind me in his human form.

I was amazed when the woman reached out for him as he entered her field of vision. For a second there was no pain, no fear, just love in her eyes. With a gentleness usually reserved for a premature baby he took her from my arms and carried her over to Paul.

A second after that Paul was gone, running to the hospital. With the woman gone I finally allowed myself to breathe again. The entire area reeked of her blood. I couldn't focus on anything but the smell, this was worse than when I had woken to this life months ago. I was inches away from running after Paul and killing anyone that got in the way of my meal. I was vaguely aware of Embry entering the woods and giving Sam his cutoffs so he could enter the hospital. Jacob seemed to be the only one actually paying attention to me.

As usual he could read me easily and realized what was wrong, "We need to get her out of here." He turned to Embry, "Stay here and wait for news." He then ran up to me and grabbed my hand. "Come on Bella."

I let myself get pulled away from the hospital and the enticing scent of human blood. As we put some distance between ourselves and the hospital I found I could actually move without Jacob pulling me along. Soon I was moving faster than he could in human form so he let go and phased seamlessly into a wolf. We ran until we were so far from civilization that the urge to turn back was no longer overloading my senses. We came across a group of three deer and I had killed them all before even bothering to feed. Jacob sat and watched in his wolf form as I drained first one corpse then the next, then the last.

When I was done I felt bloated and overfull, but at least I didn't have a desperate need to go kill any humans. My clothes still smelt like the woman's blood, but the wind moving over my body while I had run from the hospital had dried all but a few drops of the overwhelming ambrosia. When I finally looked over to Jacob he was watching me with a disturbing intensity.

Despite the fact that I knew Jacob wouldn't hurt me, I felt the stirrings of fear when he began to stalk towards me. Could he have known how close I had come to taking that woman and running off with her just so I could eat her myself? Had he finally decided that I was too big a risk to his people and pack? I felt myself back against one of the massive tree's that filled the forest.

Jacob was only a couple of feet from me when he shifted smoothly into his human form. His eyes kept that same intense look. Despite the fact that in his human form I was stronger than him, I couldn't help but feel slightly intimidated by his size.

He took my shoulders in his hands and pushed me against the tree. I couldn't look away from him as he leaned in and kissed me with enough force to injure a human. His lips worked against mine and I reciprocated eagerly, a little surprised by the sudden turn around and very aware of the fact that he wasn't wearing any clothes. When he pulled back for air I let out a shallow breath, "Wow."

Jacob laughed, a low deep chuckle before saying fondly, "Do you have any idea how amazing you are?"

I ducked my head into his chest, embarrassed by his compliment, he brought a hand up to my chin and lifted it so he could maintain eye contact. "You didn't just save Emily Bella." He stroked one of the scars on my face lovingly. "You saved Sam's life too. If she had died he wouldn't have lasted very long." I was going to say something, but Jacob cut me off, "I know I've been weird the past couple of weeks, but I promise, I'll explain everything." He leaned in and began to kiss me again.

His hands slid down over my shoulders to my waist. Up until now most of our displays of affection had been relatively tame. We were both a little worried about a repeat of Jacob's reaction to my venom. There was also the fact that Jacob was still very naked. True, I had seen most of the guys undressed at one point or another, it was a side effect of having perfect night vision, but this was a far cry from a momentary glimpse as Jacob phased. It was also way further than I was ready to go with him.

Placing my hands on his chest and gently pushing him away I said a bit awkwardly, "Maybe we should talk about this when you're wearing a little more in the way of clothing?"

Jacob grinned cockily, "Sure thing, you have any of my spares left at your place?"

I nodded. He ducked in and gave me a quick peck on the lips before bounding off in the direction of my home. He was a wolf before he completed his second step. As the trees swallowed him up I leaned back against the trunk that had been supporting my weight and let out a breath. The wood creaked and I realized that our little make-out session had nearly toppled the tree.

Wow, today had been one massive roller coaster ride. Part of me was still dwelling on that poor girl now lying in the hospital after Sam's attack. Part of me was wondering about the strong emotional bond he had with her. Hadn't he been happily in love with Leah fourteen days ago? Part of me was wondering what Jacob's explanation for his behaviour would be. And finally, part of me was reliving what Jacob and I had just been doing.

That was further than I had ever gone with, well, anyone. Edward never would have let things get so out of control. Something I had resented at the time, but now that I was getting involved with Jacob, I realized that I missed being the irresponsible one in the relationship.

There were a number of reasons that kept me from just letting go. The most pragmatic of which was simply the fact that I didn't trust my self control. A major downside to being a vampire was that the more aroused I became, the harder it was to control my other passions. Namely my bloodlust. As time went on I was getting better at separating the two drives, but there would always be a risk of accidentally killing Jacob if I gave up too much control.

Still the main reason I wasn't ready to start a sexual relationship with Jacob had nothing to do with being a vampire. As much as I hated to admit it I still felt a little guilty when I was with Jacob, like I was somehow betraying Edward. When and if Jacob and I got to that point in our relationship, I wanted it to be about me and Jacob, not about me and Edward.

Sighing I pushed off the tree and headed after Jacob.

By the time I made it home, Jacob was sitting in the doorway of my small cabin. He was wearing one of his many cutoffs. I was surprised that he was actually wearing a T-shirt. He must have known that I was feeling a little overwhelmed by our last make-out session in the forest. He grinned, "What took you so long?"

I shook my head in amusement at Jacob's question. I doubted he had been here for more than sixty seconds. I appreciated Jacob's attempts to keep things light, but we really did need to talk about what had been wrong with him the past couple of weeks. I sat down at the picnic table we had set up in front of the house, leaning my back against the edge of the wooden top. I figured I would ask about a neutral topic, "Did any of the guys tell you how Emily is doing?"

Jacob nodded, "Paul said she's going to be fine. They gave her a transfusion and stitched her up."

I felt a wave of relief, I may not have known the woman, but no one deserved to die from being mauled by a werewolf. Jacob ran a hand through his hair a little self consciously, I could tell that he really didn't want to talk about this. Despite the fact that I was reasonably sure he wasn't about to leave, I felt the stirrings of doubt. Finally I had had enough, I had been a nervous wreck for weeks. I needed to know what the hell was going on between us. "Just spit it out Jake!"

He looked up at me, "Right. Sorry." He paused again and finally asked, "Do you remember the story of the Third Wife?"

I nodded, while I hadn't been to any of the tribal bonfires, Jacob had told me as much of the stories as he could remember. I had found them fascinating. He told me about Taha Aki and how he became the first werewolf. The Third Wife was the story of Taha Aki's soul mate. I had a sinking feeling as I began to realize where this was going. Jacob continued, "We just thought it was a silly fairy tale." He laughed, "I mean soul mates? Come on."

He shook his head, "A couple of weeks ago, Leah's cousin Emily came for a visit. Sam saw her and that was it. Any ties he had for Leah, to the pack, to his family were gone. All replaced by ones to her."

"He imprinted on her." I remembered the term Embry and Quil had been using when they didn't realize I could hear. Jacob nodded.

Something seemed a little off and I asked, "If Emily was his soul mate then why did Sam attack her?"

Jake looked at the ground. "They got in an argument over Leah. I think Emily wanted Sam to try and make things work with her." Jacob shook his head, "Sam lost his temper for a second. Just one second and now Emily's going to be scared for the rest of her life."

I could see the worry lines etched onto his forehead and tried to change the subject. "But why have you been acting so strangely? D-Did you imprint too?" I hated how my voice faltered on the second question.

Jacob shook his head vehemently, "No I didn't imprint Bells." He looked away and I could tell he really didn't want to continue. Normally Jacob was so open with me about things, what could be so bad that he had to hide it from me. He finally spoke, his voice actually shook, "I'm terrified that the next time I go down town I'll just see some random girl and that will be it."

"Oh." I guess that explained his sudden strange behaviour. I felt my stomach twist in knots. Would it happen that quickly? One day Jacob and I would be together, the next, our relationship would be over like a switch had been flipped. God, it would be Edward all over again!

I looked down at the table in the hopes that Jacob wouldn't see my face. In the back of my mind I realized that Leah was probably going through hell. She had put up with a lot of secrets for the past months and trusted Sam more than I could believe. I knew Sam had loved her, but one glimpse of Emily was enough to forget her.

Jacob knelt down in front of me. I was surprised at how distracted I had become by my own thoughts. I'm fairly sure that was the first time I had been taken by surprise since I had become a vampire. He took my hands and squeezed them gently, "I realized something today Bella. I think I can fight it if it happens. If you can promise me something, I think I can fight it."

I eyed him skeptically, if Sam couldn't fight it what made Jacob think he could. "What is it?" I asked.

Jacob's face was dead serious, "I want you to promise me that if I imprint, you won't let me go without a fight."

That confused me. I'm not sure what I had expected from him but that hadn't been it. I remembered how I had reacted to Edward's leaving. How I had followed after him through the woods like an abandoned puppy. As much as I had mourned the Cullens' leaving, I hadn't really considered fighting for them. I knew I wasn't good enough for Edward, I knew he didn't want me. It would have been pointless to try guilting him into a relationship. That wouldn't have been fair to either of us. But that was exactly what Jacob was asking me to do. Confused I asked , "Why would you want that? You'd be giving up your chance to live a life with your soul mate."

Jacob stiffened, suddenly angry. "You don't get it Bella! I don't want to imprint on anyone, not even on you!" I couldn't help but be a little hurt by his words. He continued in a softer voice, "I've found the person I want to spend my life with, and it's not because some kind of wolfy-magic thing is making me. Is it so bad that I don't want to have you torn away from me because my body thinks someone else will make a better wife?"

"Jake..." I didn't know what to say, it sounded like this was a very good way for both of us to end up hurt. The way he was looking at me now was too much. I knew I didn't want to loose Jacob, but promising to help him fight off a soul mate was a big commitment. It was more intimate than our make-out session in the woods had been and I felt myself recoiling from it. Pulling my hands out of Jacob's I wrapped them protectively around my waist.

Jacob saw my reaction and pulled back. I saw hurt and anger flash across his face before his entire expression closed down into a calm mask. The same one he used when he was trying to keep his temper. I felt my stomach twist into knots. He nodded stiffly, "Fine." Like his face, his voice was calm and empty.

He made to stand but I couldn't let him go, not like this. Lifting my hand to his face stilled his retreat. "You know you're the most important person in my life." His expression softened and I continued, "You have been for a while." I paused for a second to gather my thoughts, "But I'm not ready for that yet Jacob. It's too much."

Jacob nodded and I could see the fight leave him, "I know Bella, I know you hate it when I push you." From his kneeling position he leaned forward and rested his head against my shoulder. "I was just scared that some girl was going to show up and take away everything that makes me me. I-I won't put that on you again Bella. I'm sorry."

I wrapped my cool arms around his frame and held him. I loved Jacob and even though the thought of loosing him caused my stomach to ache and my chest constrict but I felt like agreeing to help him fight an imprint was making a massive commitment. One that terrified me. But what was stopping me?

The answer to that was obvious, Edward. Jacob was basically saying he wanted to chose me over a preordained soul mate. I wondered if he would be saying the same thing if our situations were reversed and he was the one who had met and lost that person? Would I do the same for him? If Edward came back tomorrow and wanted me back, scars and all, would I stay with Jacob? I was shocked when I realized that I could. Not just because Jacob had pieced me back together from the broken doll Edward had left. Not just because he protected me from the pack's more violent members. It was because I loved him and I could see myself being happy sharing my life with him. If there had never been an Edward I don't doubt that I could have raised a family with Jacob, free of the monsters we now were.

Edward had been like a drug. His presence gave me a high that I occasionally craved even now, months later. Even when we had been together I had difficulty functioning on the days that Edward couldn't come to school. In hind sight I now realized that I didn't want to live my life like that. I liked the fact that Jacob didn't consume my every thought and daydream. True he was my single most important person, but unlike Edward he didn't eclipse every other aspect of my life until my defining feature was my love for him.

With Jacob I could actually be a person and not just a one-dimensional excuse for a human. I had once compared Edward, Jacob, and my situation to Romeo, Paris, and Juliette's. In hindsight I realized just how silly this was. If Romeo and Juliette hadn't been so mindlessly infatuated with each other they may have realized that killing themselves would destroy those they loved. Their actions had been unbelievably selfish, but their addiction to each other had blinded them to everything except their own myopic needs.

My heart may be silent in my chest but with Jacob I was actually alive. I liked the person I was when I was around him. I realized that I could be genuinely happy with him in my life. If that meant fighting off some preordained soul mate, then so be it. "I'll do it."

Jacob pulled away, surprised, "What?"

I looked him dead in the eyes and repeated, "I'll do it Jacob. If you ever imprint on some girl I'll fight to try and keep you."

I was expecting some kind of woop of victory from my boyfriend, but it seemed like this was my day to be surprised by his reactions. He stood and pulled me to him so tightly that it was a good thing I no longer needed to breathe. My feet barely touched the ground. "Thank you Bella." He whispered.

I returned the hug, hoping desperately I wouldn't regret the promise I had just made.

After the emotionally draining exchange we had just had I was amazed at how easily we were able to relax into a lazy afternoon. Jacob and I carried my couch outside and took advantage of the unusually beautiful weather. We kept the conversation light, and just enjoyed each others company. Jacob would occasionally call the hospital and check on Emily's condition, but she was fine. Just a little doped up on pain medication.

As the sun went down Jacob moved the couch back inside while I started super for him. I was disappointed that I had forgotten the deer corpses out in the forest, it was a waste of a lot of food. When the couch was back inside Jacob came up behind me and wrapped his arms around my stomach while I cooked.

I enjoyed his heat while my hands flew faster than the human eye could see chopping vegetables for a stew. I had just set the meal to boil in a heavy cast iron pot over a flame on the barbecue when our quiet evening was interrupted by the sound of Paul's heartbeat. I heard it before Jacob and sighed.

"What is it?" Jacob asked.

"Paul's here." I felt Jacob tense behind me and turned in his arms. He was looking off into the direction of Paul's approach. His features were set in a hard mask. "Enough's happened today Jake, try not to start another fight." I whispered.

It took almost five minutes for Paul's human legs to bring him to the cabin. I wondered what his reasons for coming here this time were. When he emerged from the forest I noticed that he had changed out of the clothes he had been wearing this morning. They had probably been stained by Emily's blood.

He looked pretty uneasy being here. He became even more uncomfortable when Jacob asked, "What do you want Paul."

Paul's eyes dropped to where Jacob's arms were still wrapped around my waist and I was surprised when he didn't scowl or make any snide remarks about sleeping with the enemy or necrophilia. He took a hesitant step forward bringing him to a little more than ten feet from us. Jacob's command would keep him from coming any closer. The awkward silence dragged on until Paul blurted out, "I came to apologize to Bella."

If I was surprised, it was nothing compared to Jacob. He was making a reasonably good impression of a goldfish. Paul looked really uncomfortable and I wasn't exactly sure what to say. I think that was the first time he had actually used my name. Eventually I stammered out, "T-That's nice."

He looked up and made eye contact, "You saved Emily?" The statement came out as more of a question. I saw Paul's face scrunch up in confusion, "You're supposed to be the monster and we're supposed to be the protectors, but you saved Emily."

He actually laughed, it was tinged with hysteria. "It's the only reason we exist, we protect our people from you."

Jacob was getting fed up with Paul's rambling thoughts, "You finished Paul?"

Paul stiffened, his familiar temper returning to the fore. "Yeah I'm finished." He looked me in the eye, "I won't cause any more trouble Bella."

He then turned on his heal and headed back to the woods. I wasn't exactly sure where we stood now, but I didn't want to waist the olive branch Paul had just held out. "Paul." He was already out of sight in the dense forest, but I heard him stop walking. "Do you want to join us for super?"

Paul came back to the clearing and looked to Jacob who eyed me uncertainly. After a beat he looked back to Paul and nodded curtly.

The meal was awkward and more than a little tense, but by the time Paul headed home I felt slightly better about my place with the guys. Paul still wasn't my biggest fan, but I doubted he would try another attempt on my life.

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**AN:This chapter was probably the one I enjoyed writing the most. It let Bella's character grow and got her and Paul to settle some of their differences.**


	14. A Day At The Beach

**Disclaimer, I don't own these characters.**

**Thanks for the many good reviews, I'm glad people enjoyed the last chapter.**

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Bella's P.O.V.

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Emily was released from the hospital a couple of days after Sam's attack. I was surprised when I received a phone call from Sam asking me to come and meet her. His voice over the phone had been more friendly than I could ever remember.

Jacob was on patrol and I left him a quick message on his voice mail before heading off towards La Push. It was a fairly overcast day so I didn't really need to worry about my sparkly skin. Still, I made sure to wear a long sleeved shirt to cover the scars on my arm. I had a vague idea of where Emily's house was located in La Push and was able to run there at a fairly sedate pace. Sam had given me the address, but his smell was so strong in the area I didn't actually need to consult it. It turned out that Emily owned a small cottage near the edge of the reservation. Jacob had mentioned that it had belonged to her grandparents and she had inherited it a few years ago.

Sam was waiting on the front porch for me. As he descended the steps to greet me I was struck by how bad he looked. His face was etched with worry and guilt, he looked ten years older. The bags under his eyes made me doubt he had gotten any sleep since the accident. I shouldn't have expected much else, I know Jacob still blamed himself for my scars. I wonder if he could have lived with himself if he had caused them because of a loss of control rather than as a result of saving my life?

I was a little surprised when Sam's first reaction was to wrap his arms around me in a bear hug that was reminiscent of the ones Jacob gave me. "Thank you." He said with utter sincerity.

I patted his back a little awkwardly, "Don't mention it Sam."

He pulled back and I could tell he sensed how off balance I felt by his out of character behavior. He looked a little hesitant before saying, "I thought you might like to meet Emily."

Despite his kind words I could practically smell the uncertainty rolling off him in waves. Jacob had explained Sam's physical need to protect her from anything that might hurt her. I couldn't really blame him for wanting to keep me away from her. Her blood had smelt so good as I carried her across the forest that I wasn't completely sure I should trust myself around her. "You don't have to do that Sam."

Sam looked back at the small cottage, "She wants to see you Bella. She's met the rest of the pack it's not fair that you get left out."

I was deeply touched by his words. I think that if my body could still have produced tears I may have cried. He was saying that I was part of the pack, a member of their family. Not 'Jake's pet leech', not the vampire girl, but an actual part of the pack. I felt similar to when Carlisle and Esme had told me I was part of their family. "Thanks Sam."

He led the way into Emily's small home and I was struck by how welcoming it felt. The front room of the house was mostly kitchen, it was open and had large windows allowing the weak sunlight in. I could tell that it was well used.

Emily wasn't there, but I could clearly hear and smell her in the adjacent room. Sam led me through a second door out of the kitchen and into a small sitting room. Emily was seated on a well stuffed couch that looked worn and comfortable.

Her arm was in a sling and the side of her face was covered in clean white bandages. I could smell traces of dried blood in the room, but it was nowhere near the intoxicating ambrosia it would have been fresh. Now that I wasn't overpowered with thirst, I realized that Emily was quite a beautiful woman. Her eyes were evenly spaced and despite her nervousness, were kind. We shared an awkward silence for a moment before Emily asked, "I guess you're the vampire girl?"

Her words weren't meant to be harsh, but she was definitely eying me with a little worry. As if she was wondering whether or not this meeting had been a good idea after all. I did my best to act human and shrugged, "That or Bella."

Emily blushed and looked a little embarrassed. Her free hand fiddled with the edge of her shirt. Sam sat at the far end of the couch, he seemed afraid to approach her but unwilling to leave her presence. Finally Emily asked, "Sam says you're the one who got me to the hospital before I could bleed out."

I nodded and she smiled, "Thank you, I can't imagine how hard that must have been."

I felt a little embarrassed by her words. I ducked my head, "I have pretty good control, it wasn't so bad." My ability to lie hadn't improved much since becoming a vampire and I was fairly certain Emily saw through falsehood.

She smiled weakly before grimacing in pain. I felt Sam stiffen. Emily noticed too and said, "It's okay Sam, I just pulled the stitches a little." He relaxed a slightly and Emily turned back to me, "Sam told me that you live on your own up at Billy and Harry's old hunting place. That must get lonely."

I shrugged, "It's not so bad. The guys come over pretty regularly. Jake spends about half his nights out there."

Emily gave another small smile, "I hear you're stuck cooking for a lot of the boys. I've seen how much they eat, that must be a full time job."

I laughed, letting some of the tension leave me. "It's nice having my cooking appreciated." I sobered a little, "I enjoy doing it. There's only so much time I can fill with reading and hunting and paroling. When you don't sleep you end up with more time on your hands than you know what to do with."

Emily looked surprised, "You don't sleep?" I shook my head. The reminder of what I was seemed to lead to a return of her awkwardness. After a pause she said, "Sue Clearwater mentioned that she was planning a bonfire to officially welcome Quil and Embry into the pack. I was going to help, but it looks like I'll be leaving her short handed."

"I don't know." I answered hesitantly. I didn't really want to point out that Sue was extremely uncomfortable around me. Emily looked genuinely disappointed, feeling my opposition crumble I said, "If you can get Sue to agree to it then I would love to help out."

Emily smiled and nodded, "She was going to start preparing the food tomorrow night."

The afternoon wore on and I found myself really enjoying the time I spent with Emily. I realized that it had been a very long time since I had actually had a girlfriend to talk to. While Emily was in her mid twenties, we still managed to find things to talk about. I was surprised at how easy it was to ignore Sam's hovering presence.

Eventually I noticed that she had begun looking tired and I decided to excuse myself, promising to join her at Sue's the next day to help with the food preparation for the bonfire.

It was amazing how my place in the tribe changed after that. The pack seemed to consider me one of their own, and the elders were content to let me take part in the various gatherings and council meetings.

Charlie and I were both invited to the bonfire where the Quileute legends were recounted by Billy. Even though Jacob had told the stories well, he didn't have the captivating presence Billy gave off. As Jacob's father spoke I could almost see the spirit warriors defending their tribe from their enemies.

When he got to the Cold Ones I felt more than a few pairs of eyes shift warily to me, but Jacob just pulled me tighter to his side and kissed the side of my head. As the night wore on the humans headed off. Charlie offered to take Billy back to his place leaving Jacob free relax around the bonfire before giving the border a once over. I looked forward to taking a shift with him, it had been a couple of days since we had been able to run alone without any stress.

We were about to head out when Embry mentioned going cliff diving tomorrow. One thing had led to another and I ended up getting invited along. Jacob seemed enthusiastic and I had to admit I was curious. I wondered if I would get an adrenaline rush from the jump.

The next morning found Jake, Embry, Quil, and I at the top of the La Push cliffs that overlooked the edge of first beach. The weather was overcast and looked like it would stay that way for the rest of the day. Instead of a normal bikini top I had settled on a surfing rash guard. I had never been vain but I didn't like people staring at the scars that ran up and down my left side. It was also useful in case the sun actually managed to break through the clouds.

Far bellow the cliffs I could see the surfers out enjoying the swells. It was still early and the haze off the water made it hard to make out their faces. Though their shouts carried all the way up here. I could tell that some of the surfers had spotted us and were watching curiously. "Are we supposed to be jumping off here Jake?"

Jacob shrugged, "There's no law against it."

Quil laughed and began running to the edge, "They assume people have enough common sense to know better." One of the girls from the beach let out a scream as they saw Quil leap.

Embry ran after him a second later letting out a whoop as he began to plunge towards the churning water.

Jacob and I were now alone at the top. He held out his hand to me and asked, "Ready."

I grinned feeling lighter than I had for a while. I briefly wondered if I would hear Edward's voice, but quickly pushed the thought away. I didn't need that crutch anymore. I was happy on my own. I grabbed Jacob's hand and the two of us sprinted for the edge.

There was no fear as my feet left the clifftop, just a giddy sense of freedom as the wind rushed by my face. As I fell I felt my worries fall away. There was no Victoria, no Edward, no vampires or wolves. Just me and Jacob falling into the ocean.

All too soon we hit the water. Intellectually I knew it was cold even if the temperature didn't cause me any discomfort. I felt the salty tang of the sea water enter my nose and mouth momentarily blinding my senses of taste and smell. Even in the water I could feel the heat of Jacob's body near mine as we sunk into the murky depths. As our descent slowed I was about to start kicking to get back to the surface when I felt Jacob tug me towards him.

The next thing I was aware of we were making out passionately under the surf. For once we weren't constantly fighting off our bodies natural aversion to each other. I could feel his hands roving with more confidence than he would usually have had. All too soon he pulled back and the two of us kicked our way upwards.

When we broke the surface Quil and Embry were both looking at us with knowing smirks. Quil grinned and said, "You guys sure were down there a long time."

Embry laughed and held up his left arm where he wore a cheap digital watch. "Yeah I counted five minutes thirty two seconds." I ducked my head, glad for the lack of blood in my system that was keeping me from blushing.

Next to me Jacob hit the water with his palm sending a massive sheet of spray towards his two friends, "Knock it off you two."

The boys just laughed before swimming towards the shore. Quil shot over his shoulder, "Want to go for another jump, or do you need to stay in the water a little longer Jake?"

I looked back to my boyfriend and saw him quickly glance down at the water in front of him before saying, "I'll just tread water down here for a little while." Even with Jacob's dark skin I could see a distinctive red tint to his cheeks.

Feeling a suddenly mischievous, I swam up next to him and gave him a peck on his jaw before quickly pulling away and shouting, "Enjoy the water." Then I was swimming away from him faster than I probably should have with humans around.

When I got to the rocky shore I quickly found the other wolves scents and jogged up the steep path that led to back up the tops of the cliffs. The guys were waiting there, ready for their next jump. It was Embry who asked, "Jake not coming up?"

He smirked and punched my shoulder good naturally. I smiled a little self consciously, I wasn't really used to being 'one of the guys'. Still it did feel nice that they seemed to have genuinely accepted me. I glanced over the edge of the cliff and spotted Jacob still treading water below.

I heard rapid steps behind me and the next thing I knew I had a pair of burning hot arms wrapped around my waist pulling me off the cliff. I let out a wild screech as the water began rushing towards me. The arms were still wrapped around my waist so I grabbed the wrists and tore them away from my body.

I was a lot stronger than any of the pack members and managed to twist away. Just before we hit the water I caught a momentary glimpse Quil's laughing face. I kicked my way to the surface and swam over to Jacob. I couldn't help but laugh at the rush the fall had given me. Seconds later I heard Embry splash down twenty feet from us. The four of us spent the rest of the morning jumping and playing in the violent waters. Because of the tourists on First Beach we had to be careful about how far we jumped from the cliff side. We didn't want to look too unnatural.

As we headed home that evening I realized something. For the first time in my life I had found a place for myself were I felt truly comfortable. As a human I had always felt a bit awkward around my peers. For a while I had believed that the Cullens would one day fill that need in my life. I never would have guessed that it would be with their mortal enemies that I would find a family.


	15. The Final Catalyst

**Don't own the characters:,(  
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**WARNING:Over the next 3 chapters there will be some fairly graphic violence including one, possibly more characters dying. **

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Bella P.O.V.

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Life is funny sometimes. It always seems like the catyclismic events should have some kind of buildup. Storm clouds on the horizon, ominous music in the back ground, maybe have one of the main players step forward and deliver a heart felt soliloquy. Most of the time however it just comes out of left field like a flash of lightning, destroying everything in its path.

I had been running over to Charlie's to help him cook lunches for the week. I knew he felt a little awkward having me cook for him now that I had moved out, but I always shrugged off his halfhearted objections. I had been taking care of Renee for so long that it had been ingrained into me. I knew if I didn't help him prepare a few meals a week he would just subsist on a diet of take-out and frozen pizzas.

The run through the woods was usually a time I enjoyed; I could lose myself in the speed, watching the soft blurring of the scenery around the edges as I passed. It was a time I could allow my thoughts to flow through my mind freely.

I was torn out of my daydreams by the sudden scent of another vampire. My feet dug into the ground creating deep furrows in the forest floor. I dropped the mesh bag of groceries I had been carrying and pulled out my cell pone as quickly as I could without damaging the fragile device. Jacob didn't answer for four rings. I knew he had been running the perimeter with Jared, meaning he had to phase back before answering.

When he did pick up the phone his voice was cheerful, "Hey Bells."

"I smell Victoria near Charlie's."

Jacob's voice was hard and all business when he answered, "We're fifteen minutes out. I'll call the pack. Don't confront her on your own."

"I can't let her hurt Charlie." I knew how fragile my father was compared to the monsters in this world and I couldn't take the chance that she would hurt him.

"Bella..." I closed the phone before he managed to form an argument.

Then I was running towards my home. In the distance I heard Jacob's howl. It was soon followed by other members of the pack as they found places to phase. As I neared the house I realized Victoria wasn't alone, there was another vampire with her. I wondered who it was now that Laurent and James were dead. It only took five minutes to emerge from the woods behind my dad's house.

The scent of the vampires was everywhere, I could see the back door lying on the ground splintered into jagged shards. It had been torn off the house like gaping scab. I could hear my father's pained breathing inside. "She left home with the them." His words were followed by a muffled scream. Victoria or her friend must have covered his mouth to keep the sound low.

The next thing I was aware of I had crossed the yard and entered the house. They were all there in the kitchen. Victoria had Charlie laid out on the table with one hand over his mouth. Her other hand was wrapped around his forearm, which was now bent at an unnatural angle. At her side watching with hungry eyes was a young man. He couldn't have been more than sixteen when he was changed. The vibrant red of his eyes made me wonder if he was even a month old.

While Victoria's attention shifted to me as soon as I entered the room, the boy wasn't able to tear his eyes away from my father. Victoria's sickly sweet voice felt like nails on a chalk board, "Well, it looks like daddy was lying about the Cullens leaving."

She did a double take as she actually took in my features and finally recognized me, "My, haven't you grown up little Bella." She cooed as if she were talking to an infant. She let her hand slip down to Charlie's neck. Gripping it tightly she tossed him to her friend. Her voice was suddenly sharp, "Don't kill him yet Riley."

The boy's eyes momentarily lost their bloodlust and he looked at her with real affection. I really couldn't see what redeeming qualities Victoria had to deserve such devotion. My attention shifted back to her. I had a feeling Riley wouldn't kill my father without her permission. She looked me up and down, completely unafraid of me. It was obvious she considered me no more a threat now than she had when I was still human. It was kind of insulting, still if it kept my dad alive until the pack got here, she could insult me all she wanted.

She took in my appearance and laughed, it sounded like tinkling psychotic bells, "Did Edward save you from the big bad wolves?"

The implication that Jacob would have attacked me angered me, and I answered defensively, "He left me months ago." I let my hand indicate the side of my face. "This came from Laurent."

Rather than continue with her mocking, my words seemed to enrage her. "How could he leave you?" She shrieked. "He killed my James for you, then threw you out?!"

Her fist came down on the table so hard it didn't even split it in two, merely punched a hole out in the shape of her forearm. I backed up slightly with my hands raised trying to calm her, "Why are you so obsessed with me?"

"A mate for a mate," She hissed, she seemed to regain her control.

"But I'm not Edward's anymore." I tried to reason with her, anything, I just needed to stall for time.

Victoria looked at me shrewdly, "Our kind don't fall out of love easily I think your Edward may just be playing the martyr." I felt my chest constrict painfully at her words, I guess Edward wasn't a normal vampire in more ways than one. Had I really been so undesirable and boring as a human that I couldn't hold the attention of a vampire?

"It's too bad you're not human anymore, it won't make killing you nearly as satisfying."

Charlie managed to work past his pain as he said, "You're not killing my daughter because of that little shit."

Both my and Victoria's head turned to him. This was yet another thing dad would blame on Edward. He conveniently ignored the fact that Edward had saved my life from her vicious mate. It was me that asked Victoria, "Please leave my father out of this. Edward won't won't feel anything if you kill him or let him live." I hoped she didn't hear the lie.

She seemed to consider this for a second before chuckling. The laugh sounded strange in her cherry sweet voice. Sinister and innocent at the same time. "He won't, but you will." She giggled.

I felt the stirrings of panic that my time was running out when I heard the heavy steps of the wolves. Their feet were no longer silent now that they were pushing their top speed. The sound was so welcome I almost laughed despite knowing that Charlie was far from safe.

Victoria heard them at the same time. She swore in some language I didn't recognize. Without warning she leaped out the window sending shattered glass everywhere. Riley was left in the kitchen holding Charlie's battered body. He looked confused by Victoria's sudden departure. His eyes widened as Jacob arrived a moment later. His massive russet shoulders further damaging the door frame of the kitchen as he forced his way inside the entrance. Jared was waiting outside the house, the other wolves must have gone after Victoria. I could see realization dawn on Riley, Victoria had literally thrown him to the wolves.

His eyes widened in fear, all his instincts were telling him that he was out of his depth. He lifted Charlie in front of him as a human shield. "Stay back!" He shouted.

I saw the panic taking him. I knew how volatile our kind's emotions were. As his emotions got out of control, his control over the bloodlust would go with it. I stepped between Jacob and Riley, raising my hands I said, "Please Riley, don't hurt him."

For a moment confusion pushed through the haze descending on his eyes, "But he's food?"

"He's my dad." I saw him hesitate. I was surprised when I felt a stirring of pity for the boy. I doubted he had chosen this life any more than I had. "We don't have to be monsters Riley. We don't have to kill humans."

I could see his lucidity leaving him as Charlie's scent filled his nostrils. I was losing him, "Please." I begged. His eyes met mine and for a second I thought I would get through to him. That was right before he sunk his teeth into Charlie's neck.

"No!" I screamed.

I lunged forward. I grabbed one of Riley's hands and tried to pull him off Charlie, but he just tightened his hold. There was a sickening crunch from Charlie's ribs. My strength was nothing compared to the newborn's, he must have been very young. In desperation I dug my teeth into his bicep and tore out as large a chunk as I could manage. I realized that Jacob had come up beside me and was digging into the meat of Riley's other arm.

When the bicep was torn out there wasn't enough muscle mass to keep his arms shut against my upper body strength. Charlie fell to floor in front of Riley, limp and barely conscious. Jacob bit into Riley's side and hurled the boy out the kitchen window, towards Jared's waiting jaws. I leaped out the window after him. My vision had narrowed to the point where all I saw was a red haze surrounding Riley. It felt like acid was being pushed through my veins.

Jared had already managed to get one of Riley's legs off by the time I made it outside. He tossed it away into the woods behind my house. Before he could dig in again I was on top of Riley. My teeth were at his throat when he begged, "Please."

The irony wasn't lost on me and I hissed, "No." I tore out his throat without a shred of guilt. That would come later.

By the time Jacob made it outside Jared and I had thoroughly dismembered Riley's body. With Riley torn up I ran back into the house to help Charlie. The large window over the sink was gone from Victoria's flight. The dishwasher had been crushed against the wall like a collapsed cardboard box, water was slowly pooling in front of it. The floor was littered with bits of Riley that Jacob and I had chewed out of his arms.

Charlie lay at the center of the destruction, the remains of the kitchen table were on top of him, two surviving legs pointing towards the ceiling.

I ignored the mess that made up the kitchen, and focused solely on the broken pile of human flesh that was my father. His ribcage had been crushed, causing his breaths to come in strained gasps. The bite mark in his neck was still open, gushing blood like a faucet.

For the first time since I had become a vampire the sight and scent of blood didn't hold the slightest interest for me. Just the opposite, I felt like I was going to retch. Charlie's eyes were unfocused with pain, I doubted he was very aware of his surroundings anymore.

Tossing the table off him, I knelt beside him and inhaled deeply. I could smell Riley's venom on his neck and heard it travelling through his veins. It was already acting, trying to repair the body of its new host. I could tell that it wouldn't be enough. Charlie's heart was already struggling. His lungs weren't able to take in enough air to keep him alive. He wouldn't survive the change.

"Bella?" My eyes shot to his. They were clouded with a bleary haze from the pain, but they were focused on me. If it were possible I would be crying.

"I'm here dad." I heard my perfect voice tremble as I answered him.

His uninjured arm tried to reach over to me with weak uncontrolled movements. I quickly took it in mine and Charlie seemed to relax a little, "It burns." His words were slurred, whether from pain or blood loss I wasn't sure.

I couldn't bring myself to speak. I felt Jacob come up behind me, he placed a warm hand on my shoulder. I drew as much strength from it as I could. Charlie drew another shallow breath. I could tell there was some kind of fluid in his lungs.

"Will he change?" Jacob asked. I glanced away from my dad and saw his face etched with worry. He looked about thirty five years old. It occurred to me that he probably knew Charlie better than I did what with him being Billy's son.

I shook my head, and whispered, "He won't survive long enough, He can't fill his lungs anymore."

"What if we breath for him?" Jacob asked, his voice suddenly urgent.

As soon as he said it I realized how foolish I had been. I leaned over Charlie's body. Taking a deep breath I placed my lips over his and attempted to force air into his lungs. It took a couple of tries before I realized that I needed to tilt his head back in order to the air to go down his windpipe. Sure enough the lungs inflated, but they shifted his crushed ribs and organs. Charlie screamed into my mouth and threw up.

I backed away as if I had been burnt. Charlie's head rolled to the side and the ickor he had spit up made a disgusting mess on the floor next to him. I wrung my hands together, I didn't think I had the nerve to try that again. I wished he would just pass out from the pain like a normal person, but the venom in his system was making that impossible.

Hating my own weakness I looked to Jacob in desperation. He didn't need any words. He gently moved me out of the way and took my place. Pinching Charlie's nose shut and tilting his head back he forced Charlie's lungs to inflate. I could hear Charlie groan in pain and wanted to run from the sound but I refused to let myself turn away. I may not have been strong enough to help him, but I wouldn't run away. I groped between Jacob and Charlie's bodies and took Charlie's hand.

Every time Jacob forced air into Charlie's lungs he would clench his fingers around my rock hard digits. In a desperate attempt to keep my sanity I counted the breaths.

One. Two. Three. Four.

Charlie's heart wasn't beating any more firmly, but it had stopped weakening. There was hope for him. The wound on his neck had closed and I could hear the venom in his veins.

Twenty Six. Twenty Seven. Twenty Eight.

The venom reached Charlies heart. I heard the organ suddenly begin beating strongly. The sound was as clear the engine of my truck when I shifted gears. Jacob heard it too because he pulled back from Charlie.

He turned to face me as he wiped the corner of his mouth with the back of his hand. Charlie was breathing on his own, in shallow gasping moans. I knew that as soon as the venom had fixed his diaphragm and ribs, these moans would become screams.

"W-we need to get him out of here before he really starts screaming. Even if the neighbours haven't heard us yet, they will." I spoke urgently.

Jacob nodded he called out the broken window, "Get in here Jared and help us."

Jared appeared almost instantly. Jacob walked over to the kitchen table and tore off the two remaining legs. He positioned the table top next to Charlie's twitching body and said, "Help me move him."

Jared and Jacob each took a side of his body while I took his legs. When we had Charlies weight supported Jacob counted, "One. Two . Three."

On three we moved Charlie as smoothly as possible onto his improvised stretcher. Without needing to speak Jacob and I carried Charlie out the door and into the woods. Just past the tree line were the smoldering remains of Riley slowly being consumed by fire. "Get the rest of the leech before heading back to Bella's." Jacob shouted back to the house,

Jacob heard a howl in the distance and I saw him tense. Despite the awkward shape of the stretcher I could handle it alone. "Go ahead Jacob, I can take care of Charlie."

That was all he needed. After making sure I had the table balanced he bounded away from me, becoming a wolf as soon as he was a safe distance from Charlie. My trek through the woods felt like it took forever. I hoped Charlie wouldn't hate me for letting this transformation continue. Maybe I had been selfish trying to save him, I knew the Quileute believed that people lost their souls during the transformation, but I couldn't agree with them. The Cullen's were some of the best people I had ever known. If people like Carlisle, Esme, and Edward didn't have souls then I doubted anyone did.

I was halfway to my cabin when Jared came up beside me. He eyed Charlie warily, but didn't growl.

I doubted the pack would be very happy with the addition of another vampire in their territory. I was surprised to find that Jacob and the rest of the pack had already arrived at my cabin by the time I got there. I had been running slowly to keep from jostling Charlie, but none the less little time had passed.

They were all human with the exception of Paul who was proudly guarding a squirming arm on the ground in front of him. I recognized the limb as Victoria's. It looked like one of the wolves had managed to get their teeth into her shoulder and tore it away from her body. It looked like there were a few pieces of rib attached to it as well. Jacob helped me carry Charlie into the house and lay him on my couch.

When he was settled there I looked to Jacob, "Victoria?"

Jacob shook his head, "Most of her got away."

I let out a hiss and he continued, "She made it to the water just before the guys could surround her. Paul was stupid enough to follow her in. He almost drowned, but he did get that little trophy."

My mind briefly wandered to the memory of when Paul had come after me. I was glad he hadn't been more experienced. Despite the situation I felt the stirrings of humour. "Maybe we should hang it from a door frame."

Jacob gave me a strange look and I clarified, "Like Beowulf and Grendel?"

Jacob kept looking at me blankly and I shrugged, it wasn't important. I returned my attention to Charlie's strained and sweaty face. He was still in bad shape but I knew it wouldn't be long until the venom had repaired the worst of the damage.

Now that the majority of the crisis was over I let myself break down. If only Victoria had just come after me and left Charlie out of it. I felt my shoulders begin to shake in silent sobs. There was nothing I could really do for him until he finished changing. I hated feeling so helpless. It was as worse than when I thought James had Renee at the ballet studio. At least then I had a hope of escaping Alice and Jasper's protection. Now there was nothing to do but wait.

Jacob wrapped his arms around me and, like a hundred times before, I let him hold me together. I'm not sure how long he held me like that, but it seemed that all too soon he pulled away. Ducking his head so he could make eye contact he said, "I've got to make sure the guys cover up the attack so people don't ask too many questions."

I nodded, Jacob had other responsibilities than making sure I was alright. He glanced out the door and it looked like he was being torn between his responsibilities to the pack and his ties to me. I took his hand and said, "Take care of the evidence. I'll do what I can for Charlie here."

Jacob nodded and gave me a quick hug before running out of the cabin. He shouted to Jared and Embry to go patrol the shore in case Victoria made some kind of kamikaze run. As he headed for the woods he shouted over his shoulder, "And burn that damn arm Paul!"

I heard him and Sam phase and head off in the direction of La Push. I wondered how Billy would take the 'death' of his best friend. I trusted Jacob to protect Charlie from the pack, but I knew it would take a long time for Charlie and Billy to rebuild a friendship after this.


	16. Responsibility

**Disclaimer:Don't own the characters.**

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**One more chapter in part one to go after this! A big thanks to all who reviewed and favourited the story. **

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Bella's P.O.V.

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With nothing else to keep me busy, I did my best to clean Charlie up. I changed him and washed off the dried blood and vomit. Charlie's transformation took three days and six hours to complete. His ribs finished knitting themselves together by the end of the first day. It was at that point that the real screaming started. He didn't say much, most of his screams were just incoherent yells. I stayed by his side the whole time. Jacob came back and said that the pack had found no trace of Victoria, but they had managed to repair Charlie's house so it no longer looked like a bomb had gone off inside. The Quileute understood that their survival depended on the fact that the wolves remain a myth and took secrecy very seriously. As it stood, the town thought Charlie was out fishing with Harry and Billy.

The only time Jacob left me was to go back to his father's house to sleep. I think he would have stayed, but Sam promised to take a shift with me as long as Jacob got some rest. Once again I was glad my body was unable to lose consciousness, I couldn't leave alone Charlie during this.

It was just after sunset that Charlie completed his transformation. Jacob had offered to stay with me when he woke, but I wasn't sure if Charlie would attack him. As Charlie's heart rate sped up in it's final beats I listened to make sure we were alone. The only other living things I could hear were the nervous hooves and accelerated heart beets of four deer the pack had managed capture and tie up outside the cabin.

It had been Quil's idea to put food out for Charlie so he wouldn't run off after the first human scent he caught. I knew most of the pack was in the woods surrounding the cabin in case Charlie tried to run, but I hoped that wouldn't be necessary.

My attention snapped back to Charlie the second his heart gave a last shuddering beat. Almost instantly he was on his feet snarling at me. I realized that he was physically the oldest person I had ever seen as a vampire. Part of my mind took in the changes to his physical appearance, it surprised me that he still looked like a man in his forties. While his features were now perfectly balanced and more evenly spaced. The bit of a stomach he had developed over the years was now gone. His face still held most of the wrinkles and laugh lines it had as a human, but now they made him look distinguished rather than old.

"Dad?" I asked. I tried to keep my voice as calm and even as possible. There was no recognition in his eyes as they looked at me with unconcealed mistrust. He didn't see me as his daughter, he saw me as a potential threat. Edward had told me this was what the first year as a vampire was like for most people. After the relatively easy time I had had getting used to my change I often wondered if Edward had made up the whole newborn year as a way of scarring me out of becoming a vampire. Now looking into my father's wild eyes I realized that he may not have been exaggerating.

Remembering how sharp my thirst had been the first couple of months I backed out the door and asked, "Are you thirsty dad?"

He seemed to register my words because he brought his right hand to his throat. I knew the pain would keep him focused on feeding. "There's something to eat outside."

He followed me cautiously so desperate to ease the pain in his throat he would listen to whatever I said. It only took him a second to see the tethered animals before he was on them. As he drained the first the others tore at their bindings trying to free themselves with no luck. I watched Charlie feed from the animals with mindless passion and realized that I had just inherited a massive responsibility.

That year was one of the hardest of my life. Taking care of Charlie was a full time job. I had to be on full alert twenty four hours a day to make sure some intrepid hiker didn't come within a mile of Charlie's senses. Explaining Charlie's absence to the police had required some careful manoeuvring, but as far as the town was concerned, he had decided to spend some of his life savings on a boat and take a sabbatical fishing along the Pacific coast.

There had been a number of close calls where Charlie had begun chasing a human sent, loosing himself in the hunt. Fortunately, in those cases the wolves had manged to intercept him before he could reach his targets. Despite his volatile nature, his body realized that he was no match for three wolves.

Surprisingly enough, that wasn't the worst part of Charlie's transformation. With his change came the mood swings. More than once he had screamed at me for hours straight about how I was responsible for dragging him into this world. He would yell and hurl insults about my relationship with Edward, using horrible words like attention starved whore. He only got physical once, a week and a half after the change. It was the first time he had really lost his temper. He had backhanded me through the front door of my cabin. I was somewhat surprised when Embry, Paul, and Quil came out of the woods and put themselves between Charlie and I. For once I was grateful Jacob had put so many wolves on Charlie duty.

They were snarling loudly and Charlie halted his advance. I watched as some semblance of realization reached his brain and a look of horror cross his face. "Bella?"

That one word was filled with remorse. I found myself looking at the ground not able to meet his eyes. I knew that this wasn't his fault, that his emotions were supposed to be out of control for the first year, but I couldn't help but feel betrayed. Neither of my parents had ever hit me as I grew up. Physically, I had already recovered from the blow but I still had a knot in my stomach.

It was Embry that phased and shouted, "Do that again Charlie and we'll tear your arms off."

Charlie didn't say anything at the time, he just stared at me, a little in shock at what he had done. Finally he nodded and hid himself back inside the cabin for the next thirty hours. After that Charlie's outbursts became more contained.

Charlie's change put a heavy strain on Jacob's and my relationship as well. We could no longer spend nearly as much time together, and what time we did have was now devoid of privacy.

People say every cloud has a silver lining. I think the one upside of Charlie's change was that I now had someone who understood what it meant to be a vampire. Charlie was to me, what Sam had been to Jacob, family.

There was no sign whatsoever of Victoria over the passing months, with her absence no new wolves phased. Summer turned into fall turned into winter with no sign of her. During that time my eyes finally lost the last of their red tint and took on the ambery-gold colour I vaguely remember from the Cullens. Every now and then I would catch myself staring into the mirror remembering another pair of eyes that had meant everything to me. I wondered what may have been if he had stayed.

Whenever I realized what I was doing I would chase the thoughts away. I was in love with Jacob There was no point in wondering about what ifs.

Charlie's emotions slowly evened out as his newborn strength began to fade. He was still stronger than me, but that probably had more to do with the fact that he had been much stronger than me as a human. When we thought he was ready, Sue began sneaking blood out of Fork's General so we could try and help Charlie build up a tolerance. As a nurse there it was easy for her to misplace a bag during a blood drive. Jacob would throw the bag at a cliff face splattering the red liquid all over the place. Charlie and I would then do our best to ignore it. The first couple of tries hadn't worked so well and Jacob had almost gotten bitten, but as spring came along Charlie managed to turn away from the liquid and walk off.

As Charlie's control got better I found that I really enjoyed going hunting with him. It wasn't as fun as running with Jacob, but it was nice to bond with my dad. If someone had told me a couple of years ago that I would be willingly hunting with my father I probably would have laughed in their face. It's funny how life works out sometimes.

On the rare occasions when I was able to leave Charlie by himself, I managed to spend time with Emily. While I loved Jacob, sometimes it was nice to talk to someone who wasn't my dad, and didn't share their mind with virtually every male I knew. Emily filled the void Alice had left; she was my sister. She may not have been hyperactive or clairvoyant, but she had a kind of gentle humour that drew a person in. Together we helped cook for the pack, and occasionally went shopping.

When Sam asked Emily to marry him, I was touched that she asked me to be her maid of honour. The wedding was beautiful. Sam had asked Jacob to be his best man. All of the pack turned out, with no sign of Victoria, Jacob gave the them the night off. Most of the guys were enjoying the chance to chat up some of the women at the wedding.

I had been dancing with Jacob when I spotted Quil holding his sleeping imprint Clair. Most of the time I was able to put the issue of imprinting out of my mind, Jacob had promised to fight it if it ever happened to him, but seeing Quil fawn over a three year old gave me doubts. I sincerely doubted that he had willingly let himself get leashed to the little girl. It made me fear that the same would happen to Jacob. Not the imprinting on a baby, I had more faith in him than that, but the imprinting on a random stranger.

Jacob sensed the shift in my mood and he let our slow dance slow to a stop. Tilting my chin up with his index finger he bent down and kissed me gently on the lips. "It's getting late Bells, wanna get out of here?"

I leaned my scarred cheek against his chest and enjoyed the way his suit felt against my skin. "I should probably help clean up."

Jacob laughed and whispered affectionately, "All you do is take care of people. Let someone else worry about the mess tonight."

I wanted to protest, but Jacob was already drawing me gently away from the dance floor, toward the exit of the La Push community center Emily had booked.

Once outside, the cool spring air washed over me. I had long grown used to the wolves 'unique' smell, but spending four hours in a room full of humans and pack was still a little taxing on my throat.

Jacob and I walked hand in hand out to the parking lot. He led me over to his Rabbit and gently pinned me against the front door. With incredible tenderness he began kissing me. "You, know you're beautiful right?"

His lips grazed one of my scars and I quickly turned my head away. "You don't have to lie to me." The bridesmaid dress Emily had picked out was a curve fitting turquoise number that showed off my body, I had accessorized it with a pair of long white silk gloves that covered most of the damage to my arm. Still there were plenty gashes left for people to see.

I may have gotten used to people's stares, but that didn't mean I fooled myself into thinking I wasn't practically deformed.

Jacob swiftly stepped back and looked at me with disbelief. "You really don't see yourself clearly, do you Bella?"

I looked away again and Jacob sighed, "Believe it or not, none of us really notices the scars anymore. All the guys in the pack see is a beautiful woman who likes to run around the woods with them."

I looked at him skeptically. Jacob put a hand over his heart and raised the other as if he was taking an oath. He grinned, "Hand to god. Up until Quil imprinted he was having some pretty vivid dreams about you."

Despite the fact that he had just reminded me of why I had been feeling uncomfortable in the first place, I laughed. "Is that why he was behaving strangely around me for a while?"

Jacob grinned and nodded. His face then fell in mock anger, "It's also why he had that black eye."

I remembered the injury in question. He had adamantly refused to tell me how he got it. "Jacob." I| tried sounding as disapproving as possible, but couldn't help but smile. It was a little flattering to know that guys still though of me as sexy.

Jacob raised his hands defensively, palms open towards me. "What? You're way too classy to have been doing what he was imagining."

I smacked his arm playfully, but Jacob managed to catch the hand and intertwine our fingers. Almost absentmindedly we began to walk down the main street of La Push, taking the time to enjoy the unusually warm night. We fell into a comfortable silence. At times like this our relationship felt so natural that I actually let myself believe Jacob could fight off an imprint for me.

Whether by intent or habit, our feet led us to Billy's house. The window's were dark and I could hear Billy's steady breathing coming from inside. He had left the wedding a couple of hours ago and was already fast asleep.

Instead of entering the house, Jacob and I went to the garage. Our old motorcycles were leaning against the wall, no doubt feeling abandoned after months of disuse. I let go of Jacob's hand and let it run over the shinny red frame of my cycle. Closing my eyes I listened to the night. There was a crack as Jacob popped open a can of soda that had been left in here. I could almost imagine we were both still humans bent on running our motorcycles behind our parents' backs.

Drop's of rain began to fall on the corrugated metal roof and I lost myself in the sound. Still I wasn't startled when Jacob wrapped his arms around be from behind and pulled me to him. For a little while we swayed together to an invisible song. This was the most privacy either of us had had in a long time and we were savouring it.

Turning in Jacob's arms I stood on my toes and kissed him.

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Jacob's P.O.V.

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I woke up to sunlight on my face and my head resting on a cool stone. As I became aware of my surroundings I realized someone was running their fingers through my hair. Gradually the memories of the night before came back to me. The wedding, the walk home, Bella kissing me, and what followed afterwards.

I felt a grin stretch across my face as I remembered the afterwards. It had been a little clumsy and awkward, but I knew from the pack that that was normal for a first time. Some part of my body still fought to distance itself from Bella's, but for the most part I was able to lose myself in her. I was a little embarrassed that I had fallen asleep on the hard packed dirt of my garage floor, but it had been really late when we had finished.

The fingers paused and the stone my head was resting on shifted. "You awake?" I heard Bella whisper. I blinked a few times and sat up.

I realized the cool stone I had been using as a pillow was Bella's lap. Her long dark hair hung loosely over her shoulders and her face had a calm relaxed expression. She was wearing my white dress shirt from the night before. Even sitting, it reached down past her knees. The garment was covered in dark smudges and I saw a couple of rips Her tiny white legs stuck out from the bottom of the shirt and sparkled brilliantly in the early morning sun. It was like her skin had been dusted with powdered diamonds.

I shook my head slightly, who would have thought getting laid would make me such a poetic sap? I couldn't help the broad grin that spread across my face as I thought about our night again. She returned the smile and I felt the rest of my body waking up.

I couldn't help but notice how relaxed she looked. For the first time in months it looked like she wasn't worried about Charlie. It was nice to know I could make her forget her worries for a little while. Bella was leaning her back against the motorcycles. A human would have found the position uncomfortable, but not a vampire. It was one of a thousand daily reminders of what she was. Despite the occasional twinge from my inner wolf I found I could ignore these reminders. They were massively overshadowed by the benefits of Bella's presence.

I rolled over and planted my palms on the ground on each side of Bella's knees. I pushed off the ground so I was in a push up position and leaned in to brush my lips against Bella's. She returned the affection eagerly. I lifted one hand off the earth and slid it gently up to her cheek before dropping it down to the top button of her shirt. Holding my body like that would have been awkward if I had been human, but now it was as effortless as standing. Bella's shirt was half off before she paused and gently pushed me away.

I eyed her curiously. She looked a little embarrassed and said, "Billy's awake in his house?"

She worded it like a question and I laughed softly, "He won't hear us." She only hesitated for a second before ducking in and kissing me again.

It was noon before we finally had to leave the garage. I didn't want to, but it was my shift to patrol with Jared. With Sam on his honeymoon the shifts would be a bit long for the next week.

As soon as I phased I heard Quil and Embry. They were up at the reservoir checking if the leach was going to try using water to mask her scent. "Hey guys. Any new trails?" I tried to avoid thinking about what went on last night, but that was useless.

"Way to go man!" Embry crowed.

"Yeah congratulations." Unlike Embry's words Quil's held a certain polite indifference. His imprinting on a child had effectively neutered him. He couldn't really understand sex as anything more than an abstract concept. He was like a kid all over again.

"Hey!" Quil sounded a little indignant at my internal monologue.

"Sorry man."

He gave a mental shrug. Doing my best to keep my mind off what Bella had been doing I asked again, "Any tracks?"

The guys said no and I sighed. I knew damn well Victoria would be back. She had been permanently damaged. There was nothing left for her but her own twisted revenge. As I talked to the guys I did my best to ignore the Embry's curiosity about what sex would be like with a vampire. Wondering how it would compare with a warm soft human woman.

Having any kind of relationship while being a wolf was always strained. Jared had tried dating, but so far Sam and I were the only people who had had any kind of successful relationship over the past year. It was an unwritten rule that anything private that was overheard while phased, was left in our wolf forms. I knew the fact that all the guys knew what Bella looked like naked bugged her, but the guys all knew better than to mention it to her.

I ran through the woods and quickly came up behind Jared's house. He was waiting in the woods, just tying his cutoffs to his ankle. A moment later his voice joined ours, "What's up guys?"

Before I could think a response Embry shouted, "Jake got laid last night!"

I briefly entertained the though of ordering him to role around in the fire ant mount up near the hot springs but decided that that would be juvenile. I would have to ask Sam about tips for keeping his sex life private while he was a wolf. Despite the fact that part of his mind was always on Emily, he did manage to keep us from seeing anything too explicit.


	17. Into The Fire

**Don't own a thing. I would like to give a heart felt thankyou to by Beta HSK, she helped me sort out some of those pesky grammar rules I never bothered learning.**

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Bella's P.O.V.

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Once Charlie finally outgrew his newborn blood lust, life fell into a fairly stable routine. Like me, he helped out the pack as much as he could by running patrols with the guys. There was always the threat of Victoria looming over our heads, but we lived our lives. I can honestly say I was happy with my life. I had a good relationship with Jacob, and had even managed to find a job online proofreading manuscripts for authors. The fact that I could read a book faster than any human helped.

I was glad when Charlie started to patch up his friendship with Billy and Harry. They no longer went on fishing trips, the risk of an accidental cut was too high, but they did spend their Saturday's watching whatever game happened to be in season.

Everything was going well, Jacob had started his last year of high school and was making plans with to take a mechanics course when we noticed it. Seth and three other boys his age had begun to show signs of changing.

No one knew what to think. According to the legends the pack was only as large as the threat it faced. Historically, three wolves had been enough to deal with the occasional nomad. The fact that there were now six was unheard of. Still, more boys were showing signs of changing. What threat could possibly be large enough that it warranted so many wolves? Edward had said it was rare for a vampire coven to be larger than three. Even that was pushing it in the case of most nomads.

We were all tense and Paul's temper was even more volatile than usual. Everyone one was spoiling for a fight, but there was nothing we could do other than patrol, train and prepare for the arrival of the new pack members.

The four boys did phase, though there was one additional member no one had expected. Leah. It seemed that it wasn't impossible for there to be female wolves, just very unlikely. Even after all the time that had passed since her and Sam's breakup, she had not forgiven him. She made the already tense mood even worse when her voice joined the guys.

To be honest, I felt bad for Leah. Sometimes when the guys didn't know I was around I would listen to the conversations they had as they goofed off. That was how I now knew what the retrograde wheel barrow and a jelly doughnut were. I didn't envy any woman forced to listen to that with no filter.

I could tell that Jacob was frustrated with his inability to help her integrate into the pack. He tried to make allowances for her, but I could tell her constant bitter tirade was wearing thin on him.

It was nerve wracking, constantly looking to the horizon, not knowing what threat was coming after the pack. When we finally found out what the threat was, there was nothing I wouldn't have given to go back to the worried ignorance. I'm almost certain that every member of the pack felt the same.

It was October 17. Jacob had been sitting with me in front of my cabin working on his homework while I was working through the latest pile of novels I was editing. It was a relaxing Sunday afternoon, Jacob kept an arm around my shoulder while he wrote with his free hand. I let his heat wash over me. Even though I couldn't sleep anymore, relaxing next to his side like this allowed my mind to quiet to the point where I was unaware of the passage of time. It was one of the most relaxing states I could reach as a vampire. For a little while even my thirst disappeared.

The tranquil afternoon was torn apart by five desperate howls. Jacob and I stumbled to our feet. Sam had taken Seth and the other newly phased boys out into the forest to teach them some basic ambushes. The howls coming from them sounded horrific, I had no idea what could cause such pain to a group of five wolves. Jacob had already phased and was running towards them. His path was leading him in the direction of the Cullens' land. I was surprised when he slowed his pace enough for me to keep up.

I wondered what would cause him to do that. I was answered a few minutes later when Paul, Embry, and Jared came up behind us. I realized Jacob was waiting for reinforcements. I shuddered, Jacob was many things, humble about the wolves' abilities wasn't one of them. For him to be this cautious when his brothers were howling in pain off in the woods meant that the vampires they were facing scared him. We had almost made it to the massive clearing the Cullen's used for baseball when Quil and Leah joined us.

They all looked spooked and I wished they had some way of telling me what was going on. We were close to Sam and the boys now, their howls were coming from the Cullens' baseball diamond not three hundred yards from us. Unfortunately the forest was dense enough that I couldn't see them. From this distance I realized I couldn't classify the noise as howls. The wolves were screaming. Rather than charge in, the six older wolves paused and just stared at each other.

I knew they were trying to figure out a strategy, but I couldn't help but feel like we should just jump into the clearing and help them. The sounds of an approaching vampire reached our ears and we all tensed, ready for an attack. I let out a sigh of relief when Charlie emerge from the bush. He saw me and asked. "What the hell is going on?"

"I don't know." I answered helplessly. I looked to Jacob who was still in conversation with the others

He glanced at us, then to Embry who quickly phased back to his human form. His words were rushed, "Victoria came back with five others. One of them's a little girl. When she looks at you she makes you feel like you're burning alive."

"What do we do?" Charlie asked.

"It looks like she can only hit one of us at a time. Jacob thinks that if we all attack at once we can take them out." Embry spoke for the pack. Jacob wants you to stick with Leah and Paul. He wants Charlie with Embry and Quil.

I glanced at Jacob. It wasn't comfortable with him and Jared being one man short, but now was not the time to argue. Embry continued, "Paul and Leah are going after the big guys. Embry and Quil are on the white leech and brunette woman. Jacob and I are after the little girl and Victoria."

Not missing a beat Embry phased back into his wolf form and we began to charge the clearing.

The second we broke through into the open we saw the six vampires. Two large males were toying with the five wolves. Taunting them into attacking. The wolves looked like they were in really bad shape. Josh, Collin and Brady were on the ground unable to get up. Even from across the field I could see how their legs were twisted at unnatural angles, obviously broken. When I realized that I could only hear four heart beats coming from the five I thought I was going to be sick. One of the boys on the ground was dead. My sharp eyes quickly established that it was Josh, he had been thirteen years old.

Sam and Seth were still standing though Sam's front leg was broken in at least one place. I watched as Seth ducked in an attempt to get past one of the vampire's guards. The vampire turned slightly to face Seth and Sam tried to get his back. One minute Sam was coiled to spring, the next he was on the ground screaming and writhing.

My eyes sought out the little girl Embry had mentioned. She was standing with the remaining four vampires about fifty yards away. While the two men had been dressed in slightly torn jeans and T-shirts. The other vampires wore long dark cloaks.

The little girl had a deceptively angelic face that was now twisted in a sadistic grin. Next to her was the strangest looking vampire I had ever seen. His skin looked dry and brittle like it had the consistency of chalk and I got the impression that he was very old. Despite the fact that I had never seen anything like him, I got a disturbing impression of deja vu from his face. I knew I had seen it before, but could not place it. Behind him stood a woman, maybe in her mid twenties when she had been changed, one of her hands was touching the back of the ancient one. Unlike the others who looked like they were enjoying their hunt, the girl looked terrified. She was definitely not a soldier.

Lastly there was Victoria. The cloak she wore was far more pale than the others. It did little to disguise her missing shoulder and arm. She was watching the torture of my friends with undisguised glee.

The old one was the first to notice us. His voice cracked like a whip, "Demetri, Felix stop playing around.."

The two glanced towards us before returning their focus to Sam and Seth. One of the men delivered a devastating kick to the side of Sam's twitching head. His writhing stilled as he lost consciousness. The other vampire tackled Seth and buried his face in the wolf's neck. A second later he tossed Seth away. I wondered what would happen to him, the legends said the venom was toxic to wolves, but none of us had wanted to test it.

This all happened in less than a second. The two vampires then ran to the side of the ancient one, standing in front of him defensively. Their moves were disturbingly coordinated, always in sink. It either spoke of centuries of fighting together or some kind of mental link similar to what the wolves possessed. Neither possibility was particularly comforting.

It was then that I made the connection to something Edward had told me long ago. I realized where I had seen the old one's face before. "Jacob stop!" I screamed desperately.

I for a second I thought Jacob wouldn't listen to me but he suddenly put the brakes on his charge. The other wolves skidded to a halt as well. There was still over a hundred yards separating the closest wolf and enemy vampire.

Jacob eyed me curiously. I knew he trusted me, but everything in him was telling him that he had to defend his pack and avenge his fallen brothers. The vampires seemed surprised at the halted attack, and I hurried to Jacob's side. When I reached him I whispered, "If they are who I think they are than we can't fight them. We need to try talking our way out."

Jacob growled in response and I felt him shift forward. I placed myself between him and his targets, "Please Jacob. Trust me."

For a second I thought he would force his way past me. I had a hard enough time holding myself back from the vampires, but he had felt everything they did to his brothers. He had felt the two males beat one of his brothers to death. The moment passed and he relaxed his stance a little.

I turned back to the six vampires and spoke to the ancient one. "Are you one of the Volturi?" I remembered his face clearly from the painting in Carlisle's study.

The ancient one eyed me incredulously. He somehow managed to looked amused and infuriated at the same time. "I'm surprised an abandoned disfigured freak such as yourself has heard of us."

Jacob growled. The deep rumble sent ripples up my body starting at the souls of my feet, and making their way up my spine. I found the sound oddly comforting. I vaguely remembered Edward's words about the Volturi. Something along the lines of 'one does not displease the Volturi if one wants to continue living.'

Clearing my throat unnecessarily I asked, "You're a friend of Carlisle Cullen aren't you?"

Any hope that I could exploit Carlisle's friendship with the Volturi was squashed when the ancient one answered. "My brother has a fondness for the good doctor. A fondness I do not share."

Before I could try and think up another tack to talk us out of the impending fight he continued. "When she said that a pack of werewolves and vampires were working together I thought she was crazy. I see that I was wrong." He looked at me with disgust written across his features. It was as if I had breached some ultimate taboo. I found it deeply ironic that this vampire thought himself morally superior to me. How many tens of thousands of humans had he killed over the millenia?

Suddenly he laughed, "Still I've been looking forward to good hunt." He then held a hand out to the girl. "Jane."

She skipped over to him and took it happily, "Yes master?"

"Why don't you show her why it is unwise to side against one's own kind?"

Jane turned her sadistic eyes on me. I saw her focus and prepared myself for the inevitable pain. Nothing happened. I felt a vague tingling just above my skin, but no pain.

"Jane." The old one spoke sharply.

The girl growled and her expression became pinched. The prickling above my skin intensified slightly. My mind searched for an explanation. Maybe whatever kept Edward out of my head also fought off other vampires. That didn't make complete sense, after all Jasper could still mess with my emotions as easily as any other human's.

Still, I was relieved that Jane's power didn't seem to work on me. Without looking away from me she hissed, "It's not working on her Caius."

Something seemed to shift in the attitudes of Volturi. I assumed it was from some cue from Caius, but couldn't be sure. Where before they had been toying with the wolves like sadistic cats, now their faces were set in emotionless masks. Jane ducked back to Caius' side until the girl behind him touched her back as well. Demetri and Felix then started forward. Victoria followed behind the two men looking strangely clumsy compared to the other vampires' grace.

It only took me a second to realize that the men were bearing down on me. The pack leaped into action. It was like some invisible leash had them holding them back, but was cut the moment the Volturi began their advance. It seemed like I had suddenly become the high priority target.

The wolves tried to go after two males, but whenever they got close they collapsed in a writhing pile. Still numbers were in our favour. Especially when Charlie managed to tackle one of them. There was a moment of surprise when I realized Jane's talent didn't work any better on him than it did on me. Edward had said I was the only person he had met that was immune to his gift, but was it possible Charlie had a similar talent? Had Edward merely neglected to mention that my father was also able to keep his thoughts to himself?

Charlie still had a bit of the natural strength that came with being a newborn. His arms locked around the other vampire's midsection and there was a series of shuddering groans coming from his body. All this had taken less than a second.

Despite Jane's ability it seemed she could only cause debilitating pain to one wolf at a time. She was holding four of the wolves off herself, Caius, and the girl behind them. Unlike Jane and Caius the girl looked terrified of the wolves attempting to get near enough to tear her apart. I almost felt sorry for her. Then I remembered Josh's dead body and any sympathy I had disappeared.

I was thankful that my vampiric faculties let me process all this while finding my target. I was on the way to help Charlie when I was intercepted by Victoria before I could close half the distance. The two of us ended up rolling around on the ground. I bit and snapped at her, but even with only one arm she was a better fighter than I was. I suddenly regretted all the times I hadn't participated when Jacob and the guys goofed around enacting what they had seen on the UFC.

Still I was able to keep Victoria from sinking her teeth into anything too vital. Part of my mind was aware of what was going on outside of our fight. I heard the angry shriek of a vampire being torn apart. When I realized it wasn't Charlie I thought that maybe we had a chance at surviving this mess. Maybe we could win. Maybe we would beat the Volturi. That was when Jane discovered Jacob.

One minute we were actually doing pretty well, the next all the wolves were screaming like they were burning alive. Victoria took advantage of my distraction and used a wrestling move to get behind me.

Instead of tearing out my spine with her teeth like I expected her to, she wrapped her legs around my upper body, pinning my arms to my side. She locked her ankles around each other and rolled me onto my stomach. From this position she was straddling my back awkwardly with her heels digging into my stomach.

I writhed and struggled, but was unable to break her vice-like hold. She laughed, it was a high derisive sound. When I stilled she grabbed a fistful of hair with her remaining hand and forced my head up until my eyes landed on Jane's grinning face, her eyes locked on Jacob's twitching body. All around her the pack was rolling on the ground in agony. Somehow his link to the pack as Alpha was letting Jane torture them all at once.

Victoria bent down over me and whispered in my ear, "I'll make you watch as they burn your friends' bodies." She gave a high tinkling laugh.

I though I was going to be sick as I saw the surviving male attack Charlie and dismember him in a matter of seconds. I felt a haze of shock descend on my mind. "Daddy?" I whimpered, my brain unable or unwilling to process what it had just witnessed.

As the vampire tossed my father's head away Caius spoke, "Assemble Demetri then pile the wolves. We shall burn them together."

Felix complied and quickly reassembled his partner. In seconds he was on his feet. While Demetri got used to having his head attached again Felix walked over to Paul and grabbed his hind ankle. I think Paul was in too much pain to realize what was happening.

Planting his feet into the ground, Felix heaved Paul towards Sam's unconscious body. Paul sailed through the air like a bag filled with sand before landing hard against Sam's side. One by one Felix and Demetri piled the screaming wolves until all but Jacob were lying in that big furry mound of broken bodies.

All that time I was begging and screaming. Caius didn't even look at me, he merely watched the growing pile of wolf bodies with an expression so filled with hate that I felt myself recoil from him. There would be no mercy coming from that thing.

The only wolf Demetri and Felix didn't go near was Jacob, no doubt unwilling to risk breaking Jane's concentration.

When the pile of wolves was complete Caius removed a long silver cylinder from his cloak and approached the wolves. The scared girl followed behind him. The tube was about thirteen inches long and four inches in diameter. I could make out ornate carvings of flames up and down the side.

He flipped open the top and began flicking it at the pile. A liquid sprayed out and sprinkled the wolves. From the strong smell I realized it was some kind of accellarant. All too soon the cylinder was empty and he placed it back in his robes. Felix then came up beside him holding a lighter. Caius took it, lit it, and tossed it onto my family. Fire spread and soon covered them. Caius backed away and grinned sadistically. The look held more loathing than any instinctive hate of wolves a vampire was born with. I briefly wondered what had caused the emotion.

If it were possible the wolves' screams became even louder. I looked to Jacob desperately. I wanted so badly to reach out for him. I knew that if I could just reach him then things would be better. We would still be killed but at least I would be able to say goodbye.

In that last hopeless bit of desperation something changed. It was like a sheet of silk had been wrapped around my mind and I had never noticed it. Suddenly it exploded outward propelled by my desperation. When it passed beyond Victoria I could feel her presence, it was like a flickering candle in my mind's eye. Not knowing what it was I pushed the sheet out towards Jacob without hesitation. I effortlessly engulfed him in my silken shroud. As soon as he was inside the strange boundary I felt his presence in my mind. It was warm and comforting and wild just like him.

I couldn't read his mind, but I could feel him and I knew he was there. What surprised me was that I could feel all the other wolves as well. Jane's gift prickled over the surface of my shroud, but skittered over it harmlessly. Jacob stood up. His sides were heaving, he looked exhausted, but at least he was no longer in pain.

The wolves in the pile reacted instantly. They sprang out in all directions instinctively rolling to put out the flames. I noticed that five of the wolves were moving. Sam and one of the young ones had managed to recover enough to least get to their feet.

The others were in bad shape. All five lunged at Felix leaving themselves completely open to attack from Demetri. It was a kamikaze move. I think they realized that any hope for survival lay in neutralizing the fighters by any means necessary.

As Felix disappeared under and ocean of fur Demitri got his massive arms around Quil's neck and pulled him off his partner. It was too late, the field was once again filled with the sound of tearing vampire. Still the sound of shearing stone was not not enough to drown out the resounding crack of Quil's neck.

During this time Jacob had charged Victoria. He closed the thirty yards separating us in hundredths of a second. She tried to stand and run but her legs were still tangled around my midsection. As she stood I grabbed her ankle and tripped her. The next thing I knew I had dug my teeth into her throat and torn out a massive chunk.

Victoria gave a gurgling scream as venom flowed out the open wound. I dug in again an tore away another piece. Decapitating a vampire was harder work than one would expect, but regardless the third time I bit down I came away with her head.

I felt a jerk from one of her legs and realized Jacob had torn the limb off. Deciding that she was no longer a threat I stood to go after the others. Jacob obviously had the same thought because once he had tossed the limb away he ran to engage Demetri with the other wolves.

The vampire certainly didn't want to go down without a fight. Next to Quil's inert form was Leah's. All I could tell from this distance was that she was having trouble breathing.

Caius, Jane, and the still unnamed girl were now running away having realized that Jane was of little more use than any other child sized vampire. My inner monster screamed at the injustice of this. How dare they attack and slaughter my family and then try and run? They were ours.

I was running toward them before I had even realized I made the decision.

Caius was moving like a bat out of hell. His age had not slowed him down one bit. He was definitely faster than I was. Jane, however, was not, neither was the silent scared girl.

I tackled Jane from behind. Unlike Victoria, Jane was not a fighter. Her tiny neck was so fragile that it only took one attempt to sever the head. After that the rest was easy. Jacob, Embry, and Jared shot past me and I felt my shield collapse. I hoped the other two didn't have any terrifying powers because I didn't think I had enough energy left to push it outward again.

Instead I focused on the injured. Seth was the biggest concern. He had been bitten. Maybe I could do for him what Edward had done for me, that is suck the venom out. I hoped it hadn't been too long. I looked out over the destroyed field littered with vampire bits and eight injured or dead wolves and realized that it had only been minutes since I got here. It had felt like hours! The smell of burnt hair and skin filled the air.

Seth was on the ground next to his sister. He was whimpering, either in pain from the bite or from the massive patches of burnt skin. Leah was trying desperately to get up off her side and help him in some way, but her bones were too badly broken. It looked like a section of her ribcage had been stomped in.

Despite her injuries she still growled at me as I approached her brother. I ignored her and knelt next to Seth. Other than Jacob, he had had the least problem with my being included in the pack. Even now, after his brothers and sister had been torn apart by my kind, he looked at me with trusting eyes. "I'm going to try and suck the poison out Seth."

Leah actually managed to get up on her unbroken foreleg and growl. Without taking my eyes from Seth I said, "It's the only way to help him Leah, you can kill me later." Then to Seth I said, "Stay still."

Pushing the hair aside from his neck I found the two crescent shaped teeth marks. Seth bucked instinctively as I placed my lips on his neck, but didn't try and trow me off. The blood was better than any animal's I had ever had, but I could taste the venom Demetri had left in the wound.

Despite the fact that this blood didn't taste anywhere near as good as I imagined a human's would, I found myself getting lost in the taste. I must have drunk an entire pint more than was necessary before realizing the blood was clean. Somehow I managed to stop swallowing and pushed myself back from the feast before me. It took me a few gasping breaths before I could think straight again.

When I could finally focus I noticed that Seth was actually standing on his own. It was a good thing the wolves had so much blood to spare. "Can you phase back Seth?"

He nodded and before long he was human again. The wound on his neck was already scabbing and he was looking more stable on his feet. He was still covered in fresh burns and I wished we had some kind of medical kit. I also wished we had a doctor to set everyone's bones. "Did they get the others?"

Seth looked exhausted, "The male is dead, but the girl who was hiding behind him is difficult. Jacob and Embry keep trying to get her but they get confused whenever they get close."

I nodded. I was needed here and I was sure three wolves could handle one vampire, gifted or not. Collin and Brady were the two surviving young wolves but they were severely burned. They hadn't been able to get up after the fire had been lit.

I felt myself panicking. How was I supposed to help with these kids? They needed a doctor. I didn't know how to handle all this. God, I wished Carlisle were here.

I clenched my teeth. He wasn't here and I needed to do something. The wolves would recover faster in their human forms since the injuries shrank along with the other body parts. That would be our first step. I turned to Seth, "Help them to phase back. They should heal faster that way."

It was amazing that only one of the wolves had died so far. I had been sure Quil was done for when Demetri snapped his neck. To my amazement, he was still alive when we got to him. His pulse was weak and his breathing laboured but he was alive.

"Can you run?" I asked Seth. He nodded.

I had realized that he and I were way out of our depth here. I turned to Seth, "I need you to go get your mom. She's a trained nurse, and I'm afraid that I'll do more damage than good if I try helping them."

Seth nodded. "She'll be at Billy's."

Without a backwards glance he phased and ran from the clearing. With nothing else to do for the wolves, I turned my attention to Charlie. He lay in six pieces. It didn't take long to find them and reassemble him. It was grotesquely fascinating watching the stone flesh knit itself together. It was almost like two droplets of water fusing into one on a shower floor.

I put his head on last. For a few moments his body lay on the ground inert.

His eyes slid open and for a second there was blind panic. Then he was on his feet looking back and forth for the Volturi. Because his clothing had been torn when his arms and legs were torn off, he was now wearing the worlds most lopsided cutoff jeans. The same went for his flannel shirt. I tried to calm him down."It's alright dad, we won." I explained that Sue was being brought back here as soon as possible.

Charlie took in the carnage with a slightly shocked expression. He took in the injured pack. Leah, Sam, Paul, Collin, and Brady were all in their human forms. The only one who hadn't phased back was Quil. He was just lying on his side doing his best not to further damage his neck. I heard Charlie mutter, "Sweet mother of god." Softly. I don't think he could quite believe the carnage.

He looked back to me, "Let's burn the pieces." I nodded. It was one trait that Charlie and I shared, we weren't ones for excess words. He and I gathered the vampire remains until we were sure we had found every last piece of the Volturi who had been killed in the large field. Some of the accelerant Caius had used was still burning and it didn't take long to ignite the remains.

The smoke they gave off was thick and chocking. It smelt terrible and brought back memories of Victoria's last attack. It was odd how the smoke always seemed to hover around for a while. As if the little piece of the vampire in it were desperately trying to stay together.

All too soon the last of the pieces were incinerated and we were forced to go back to waiting. This was the hardest part. Hearing the gasps of pain of the pack. I wished I could do something to comfort them, but I knew that there was a risk of them reacting to our presence and phasing if we got too near. I doubted that would be a good for their bodies.

It seemed to take forever for Seth to get back to us. It was slightly ridiculous seeing a tiny forty year old lady riding a giant wolf covered with burns. She slid off her son's back and went immediately to Leah's side. Making sure her daughter was okay.

For the next forty minutes Sue had Charlie and I working feverishly to help the pack members. We needed to set their bones as quickly as possible to keep them from healing incorrectly. Since Seth was the fastest out of us he was sent to fetch more medical supplies. Namely creams and bandages for the burns and splints for the bones.

Sam insisted that we treat him last. Unfortunately, it meant his arm was the only one that healed enough to be a problem. The only solution Sue could think of was to rebreak the bone. As good as my control was with blood that was something I couldn't do.

Without hesitating Charlie said, "I can do this part Bella."

I felt guilty for making him do something like that, but was grateful none the less. Sue stepped away from him so he wouldn't be tempted by her blood and he managed to rebreak Sam's arm. The scream Sam let out when Charlie fractured his arm was a sound that will haunt me for a very long time.

This left Quil as the only wolf that was still seriously injured. After some debate we decided to help him regain human form. Sue had me keep his head at the proper angle while his body shifted. Together we carefully rolled him onto his back so he could breathe more easily. Once on his back he seemed more relaxed. Judging from how fast Sam's arm had fused there was a good chance Quil's neck was healing already. Unfortunately there was no way of knowing whether or not it had healed correctly. Sue was suggesting we sneak him into the hospital for a cat scan. I just wished we had a way of contacting Carlisle.

The relative calm was shattered when the frantic sound of a running vampire reached our ears. Some of the boys tried getting up, but Sam took control, "Stay down and heal. It's only the girl, Bella, Seth, and Charlie can deal with her while you recover. I noticed that Leah was looking somewhat mutinous even though, other than Quil, she was the worst injured here.

Despite his words Sam stood. His arm was braced in a sling at his side and he winced as he jostled it. He wasn't going to be fighting unless things got really out of hand. Seth was already on his feet. Not bothering with modesty he stripped off his cut offs and phased.

It was only a second later that she emerged from the forest at the edge of the field. I vaguely remembered that that was where James and his coven had emerged when I had watched the Cullen's play baseball.

Charlie and I immediately put ourselves between the vampire and the injured pack. As the girl neared us I saw just how terrified she looked. Her eyes were wide and filled with panic. She was halfway to us when Jacob and the other wolves emerged from the trees. The girl was desperately screaming something in Italian.

She came to a stop not ten feet from us and collapsed on her knees. She repeated her words. I was surprised when the three wolves didn't fall on her and tear her apart. Instead they surrounded her blocking any chance at escape. Seth phased back and spoke quickly, "They haven't been able to attack her, she has some kind of weird shield that's keeping them away. Jacob hopes it won't work on you."

The girl heard his words and spoke in accented English, "Please call them off I can't hold them away for much longer." The wolves began to fidget excitedly. After all, this hunt filled nearly the same need for them as blood did for me.

I couldn't look the girl in the eye. Despite the fact that she was physically older than me, when she was on her knees like that she looked like a scared kid. She saw my hesitation, "Please stop them, you kept them away before."

I felt anger rise through my system like bile, "And then you tried to burn them alive."

The girl's eyes widened in fear. "Please." She begged again. Her shoulders were shacking with tears that her eyes couldn't produce. Her voice was almost too quiet to hear when she added, "I don't want to die."

I had to admit I felt a little sorry for her, she was the only one of the Volturi who hadn't seemed to get off on what they had been doing to the pack. As I replayed the memory in my mind I realized that she had actually kept her eyes averted while Caius lit the pire.

Before I could say anything Charlie spoke. "Jesus Bella, she's just a kid."

I heard the wolves growl angrily. No doubt incensed that he would even consider showing pity towards one of our attackers. Embry launched himself towards her only to change direction before he was three feet from her. He didn't seem to hit anything. It was strange, almost like he had decided to change the direction of his attack on his own.

The girl whimpered and I saw her shudder as she redirected his attack. I understood why she had come back here. She was as exhausted as I had ever seen a vampire get. Constantly fending off the pack was wearing her down.

Seeming to take my dad's word as encouragement she crawled, actually crawled, to his feet. Grabbing at the tattered sheds of his pants she pleaded. "Please let me go. I'll leave. I won't bother your wolves anymore."

Charlie, the unphased pack and I were all shocked when the wolves backed away slightly. The girl wrapped her arms around Charlie's waist attributing her reprieve to him. "Thank you."

Jacob phased back into his human form but didn't bother with his cutoffs. He wanted to be ready to phase if she attacked. I guess I was the only one who still found the whole nudity thing a little bit distracting.

Jacob spoke sharply, "What's your name leech?" His tone was hard and angry. I had to admit that standing there at close to seven feet tall, covered in damage from the fight and backed by two massive wolves made him more than a little intimidating.

The girl looked at him, her fear returning to her, she finally seemed to realize that it wasn't me or Charlie who was in charge here. Letting go of Charlie and facing Jacob she answered without lifting her eyes from the ground. "My name is Renata."

Jacob nodded and said, "We will let you go if you tell us everything you know about the Volturi." He glanced at the pilar of smoke and added, "Well what's left of them."

Renata's face fell, "I'll be killed when they find out."

Jacob looked at the girl with the disturbingly blank calm he always resorted to when he had to be the Alpha, "You'll be killed right now if you don't." His words were decisively final. I was suddenly overcome with regret for the innocence Jacob had had to give up in order to be the leader his pack needed.

Renata looked back at Charlie beseechingly. Hoping he would do something to help her. Charlie shrugged helplessly. He was never all that good with overt displays of emotion, particularly when it came to women.

"He's the one in charge, not me." He inclined his head towards Jacob.

The girl looked very confused. Looking from Charlie to me and back she asked, "But he's a werewolf?"

"And?" Jacob demanded sharply.

Renata quickly ducked her head in submission. "Nothing. I'll tell you about the Volturi." Her voice sounded utterly hopeless. Her situation was pretty much the epitome of stuck between a rock and a hard place.

Jacob nodded, "Are there any others vampires in the area?"

Renata shook her head, "You killed all of us."

With that immediate concern relieved Jacob turned to Sam, "How are the injured?"

The rest of the afternoon was a blur. While Charlie and one of the wolves guarded Renata. Jacob, Seth, and the less injured of the pack attempted to help the wounded. Most were too injured to move. We had to make due with setting up a makeshift camp. Jacob and Seth made several trips to La Push to bring people and supplies back. Among the humans were Josh's parents.

Their faces were masks of grief when they saw their son's broken body. It was still in its wolf form. Despite their obvious pain they joined the efforts in helping the injured. I found myself unable to look at them. If it weren't for me none of this would be happening. I brought the vampires down on these people and I kept making things worse.

There was absolutely nothing I could do to make up for the loss of their son.

That night the tribe burnt Josh's body in the same clearing were he had been killed. Every member of the pack was there to pay their respects. He was given the rights any fallen wolf was. The rest of the pack watched solemnly, those that were able to phase without injury were in their wolf forms.

At first Charlie and I weren't sure what to do with ourselves. I was surprised when Sam waved us over to stand with the pack. I guess we were considered protectors for the tribe now. The ceremony wore on, but I couldn't focus on what was being said. I kept my attention split between it and Renata, who stood out in the darkness.

She knew better than to run, Charlie was much faster than her and immune to her strange shield. I'm fairly sure she sensed that the wolves would use any excuse they could to vent their grief. Killing her would help with that.

What she had told us about the Volturi chilled me to the bone. Their guard had over fifty members left. This wasn't counting the wild vampires that tagged along as witnesses to the Volturi's 'justice'. Even if Charlie and my shields could protect the wolves from their gifts, they would simply overwhelm us like a tidal wave capsizing a canoe.

I snuck a glance at Jacob. He didn't appear to be paying attention to the ceremony. He was seated at the head of the pack in his wolf form. Watching the flames of Josh's pyre as they reduced his body to ash. Sometimes I wished I could see into his mind and know what he was thinking.

The ceremony felt like it lasted forever. When it finally came to an end the pack began ferrying people back to the reservation. Jacob didn't move from his seat and I felt my stomach clench with worry. Charlie was saying goodnight to Billy a few hundred feet from me, and I asked quietly, "Dad, can you watch Renata?"

Despite my low voice I knew he heard me and saw a slight nod in confirmation. He waved goodnight to Billy and went over to the edge of the forest where Renata stood. Despite the darkness and distance, I could clearly see her facial expression. She looked, well confused would be the best way of putting it. I suppose to an outsider it was strange, wolves, humans, and vampires all mourning together.

But Renata wasn't who I was worried about at the moment. I walked over to Jacob's side and tangled my cold hard fingers in the fur of his shoulder. These past months he had been getting quite shaggy. Together we watched the dying coals. I'm not sure how long we stood there in silence. I was vaguely aware of the last humans leaving the clearing until the only sound left was Jacob's steady breathing and beating heart. Occasionally those sounds were interspersed with a gurgle from his digestive track. All noises you took for granted until they were silenced.

"I don't know how I'm going to do this Bells." I was surprised when he spoke. I had been so caught up in my thoughts I had only peripherally noticed that he had phased. As his words filtered through my brain I realized I had never heard him sound so hopeless.

I didn't need to ask what he meant. He was responsible for his people. He needed to protect them from this new threat. Taking his hand and gently squeezing it I said, "You'll find a way."

Jacob looked down at our hands then followed my arm with his eyes until they rested on my face. "How? You heard what Renata said. They outnumber us five to one."

"You'll find a way." I repeated with utter conviction. After what happened today I wasn't sure how much faith I had left in a higher power, but the one person I truly believed in was Jacob Black. He had taken an empty shell of a girl and fixed her. He had destroyed a vampire without even knowing what it was, what he was. He and his pack were humanity's one form of defence against the monsters that should only exist in horror stories. If there was one person who could do the impossible and keep his people safe from the monsters then it was Jacob Black.

It was difficult to believe that Jacob was only seventeen. He had the body of a man in his twenties, but his expression was older. He looked like he was being crushed by the weight of his responsibilities.

When he spoke he sounded lost, "I don't think I can Bella. The pack all look at me like I should have the answers and I don't." He shook his head, "But if I admit that, even with my thoughts, they'll know and they'll give up." He paused, "You heard what Renata said about those bastards. There's so many and they'll be out for blood."

I could feel Jacob shaking, for once it had nothing to do with a need to phase. "I feel like I'm trapped. If I give into the fear for a second they'll see and we'll all just fall apart." His eyes were drawn to Josh's pire.

I felt his grip on my hand tighten and I stepped in front of him so I could block his view. The attempt was laughable since he was over a foot and a half taller then me, but I reached up and angled his face down to mine. "You have me Jake. You don't have to be the Alpha, the pack isn't here."

I leaned in and wrapped him in a hug. He kept shaking as he buried his face in my hair. I smelt the salt water from his tears as he gave in and cried. Slowly his tremors eased and he let me go after giving me a peck on the forehead. "Thanks Bella."

It was strange being in this position. This reversal of roles. Usually Jacob was the one comforting me. There was something balancing about being on the other side of the equation for once. It felt like we stood on more even ground. I felt more like a partner in the relationship than a needy damaged child. That's the only explanation I could give for the next words that slipped out of my mouth, "Will you marry me?"

Jacob stiffened his eyes going wide in shock. My expression mirrored his as he looked at me intently searching for some sign that he had misheard. I felt doubt cloud my mind, we were still young, it was insane to get married at nineteen. That was something Renee and Charlie both seemed to agree on. A growing part of me realized that I didn't care. I had always figured that if I got married it would be when I was in my thirties. Unfortunately, there was an increasing chance I would never make it to that age. I wanted to spend my life with Jacob, however soon it was cut short by the Volturi. As long as Jacob was willing to have me. That is, if he wanted me for that long, I felt my resolution falter. Was this what Jacob wanted? With slight uncertainty I asked, "Well?"

Jacob's dazed expression gave way to a sad tender smile. He seemed to momentarily put aside the looming threat of the Volturi, Josh's death, and the weight of leading the pack. He took my hands and held them gently, "Yeah Bells, I will." He then bent down and kissed me.

Tomorrow we would go back to preparing for the Volturi's inevitable retaliation. But we could face it together.

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**End Part 1**

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,

**That's it for part one. Part two will be a while in coming. That part hasn't been written yet and I'm open to suggestions. I've got a plot laid out, but unlike this part it hasn't been mostly written yet.**

**Now for the bad news. Because I'm currently working on my thesis and I don't like posting things unless they are mostly written, It is going to be a while until I start posting part 2 (2-3 months).**

**Part 2 will be posted as part of this story and not a new piece.**

**Thanks again to those who reviewed.  
**


	18. Part 2: The Search

**I'm back! I realize it's been a while, sorry about that. This is the start of part 2. It takes place roughly five years after the end of part one. **

**If anyone is able to beta for this I would be grateful for the help.**

**As usual I own none of these characters and I'm making no money off them.**

Chapter One: The Search

Bella's POV

"Denali National Park 10 miles."

The sign gave me a second's relief, we were almost there. A muffled scream from the back of the van brought me back to reality. Even if we found Carlisle the odds were heavily stacked against him being able to help.

Not turning my eyes from the road I asked, "Is he alright?"

"He's not worse." Leah's voice lacked it's usual snap. She hadn't slept since this whole mess had started and all that was keeping her awake was grim determination.

"We're nearly there," I said. She didn't respond but I knew that she heard me.

We had been on the road for one day and sixteen hours. It had been nearly four days since I had bitten Jacob.

If a Quileute is bitten in their wolf form, they have a certain immunity to the vampire's venom, they have a chance. Their bodies can actually fight off a few small bites. That immunity does not transfer to their human form. The only thing keeping Jacob alive were frequent transfusions from Leah and Seth.

None of the doctors the pack trusted had been able to treat Jacob, that was why we were here. This trip was a desperate attempt to get him help. We needed Carlisle, and this was the only chance we had of finding him. Even if he weren't in Alaska, we may be able to locate the Denali coven. They would know how to get in touch with the Cullens. The question was whether or not it would be in time.

I couldn't think like that, I wouldn't think like that. Carlisle would be here and he would help Jacob. There was no alternative. The fact that Sam had become Alpha the moment my venom entered Jacob's heart meant nothing. Jacob would get better, the pack needed him as much as I did.

Before we made it to the park's border I spotted a side road that split off from the highway. It seemed as good a place as any to park the van. It was overgrown with weeds and I saw no signs of recent use. I turned onto it, doing my best to avoid any potholes. Despite my best efforts, the truck lurched to the side when it hit a rock that had been pushed up by the frost. Jacob screamed and I cringed. Once we were out of sight of the highway I engaged the parking brake and made my way to the back of the van.

The sun hung low in the sky, casting long shadows across Jacob's fevered form. The days were extremely long this far North, there was barely any true darkness. It meant our search would be complicated by the need to conceal ourselves. It also meant the Denali coven would be restricting their hunting to areas not frequented by summer tourists.

Leah was leaning her massive form against back doors of the van. She was working her sneakers off, ready to start the search. Seth had a damp rag held to Jacob's forehead. Though I doubted my husband was even aware of us anymore. Leah was right, Jacob was no worse than he had been when we carried him across the border into Alaska. Leah opened the back doors and sat on the fender, her shoulders sagged and I wondered if she would pass out right there.

Unlike Leah, Seth had managed to get a few hours of sleep here and there. That and his training as a nurse were why he was staying to look after Jacob. Before I could help myself I said, "Remember transfusions every four hours, and keep his fluids up."

Seth nodded, not commenting of the fact that we had come up with the schedule together. "Sorry Seth,..."

"It's alright," he cut me off. "Just find Dr. Cullen."

I nodded and jumped to his side at the back of the van. Hesitantly I touched Jacob's cheek. He cringed at my cold skin and I pulled back. I held back a sob, "Hold on Jacob."

His only response was a slight hitch in his gasping breaths. I frowned, I almost reconsidered leaving with Leah, letting Seth join her. I chased the thought away, the Denali Coven may bite first and ask questions later when confronted by werewolves.

Leah hoisted herself off the fender and began striping. Seth and I didn't spare her a glance. Modesty had long since been abandoned by the pack. I hopped out after her. She tied the small bundle of clothes to her ankle, then arched her back causing several loud cracks. "Were do you think they'll be?"

I pictured the map in my head and pointed Northwest. "There's a few thousand acres closed to hikers forty miles off. They must use it as a hunting ground occasionally."

Leah nodded, "When I shift, get on my back, we'll get there faster."

Even through my worry for Jacob I froze. I never would have thought Leah would let anyone, let alone a cold one, ride her. She was right though, she could move faster than me, faster than any of the wolves. "Thank you," I said.

She nodded and phased. I wasn't as close to Leah as I was to Emily, but we were friends. She had set up a small garage in La Push that serviced the res as well as Forks. While Jacob's responsibilities with the pack had kept him from becoming a partner in the business, Leah gave him some work under the table. The money helped us make ends meet.

I climbed onto her back. Rather than ride her like a horse, I remained crouched, feet resting on her hips, hands gripping the hair bellow her shoulder blades. The few times I had ridden Jacob we found that this position allowed him the largest range of motion. I could feel her muscles tense as her body identified me as a threat, but she did not buck me off. Instead she sprang forward at a speed I couldn't have matched as a newborn.

Despite the lack of sleep, Leah's body didn't falter. As we sped across the national park I had to wonder what Leah was hearing. The pack was much larger now than it had been during the Volturi's first attack. As far as we could tell every male with the slightest trace of wolf ancestry had begun phasing. This included toddlers and elders. Quil senior was the oldest while Sam's 18 month old son David was the youngest. There were sixty three wolves in all, I shuddered at the thought of that number dropping to sixty two.

To maintain order, the growing pack mind had fractured into subgroups each headed by a Beta that filtered the thoughts of the others so Jacob could direct them. Jacob was still Alpha while Sam, Leah, Billy, Jared, and Alex where his Betas. All but Alex headed patrols and basically helped Jacob run things. Jacob could still talk to the other pack members, but it was easier to push their thoughts to the back of his mind. Alex was actually only eight years old. Of the twelve wolves under ten years he was the dominant one. He kept his peers sheltered from the minds of the adults of the pack. It gave the boys some semblance of a childhood.

It was a dynamic that I didn't fully understand, but seemed to work. When Jacob was bitten the pack was thrown into chaos. Leah said they were still trying to settle into the a new structure. Fate may have chosen Sam, but many of the older members wanted Billy to lead. It was causing a lot of tension. Apparently Billy had tried ordering Leah back. Sam had managed to void the order, but the disarray made me worry. A disorganized pack was a weak one. At least Charlie could still shield their minds if the Volturi attacked. I was amazed Leah could stay focused on the hunt while dozens of wolves argued in her head.

This trip to Denali was a desperate attempt to get Jacob help. A large part of me expected to find nothing, however hope flared when we crossed a Vampire's trail. It was fresh!

I jumped off Leah's back as soon as she began snuffling around in the earth. I quickly joined her, letting my hands rest on the lichen covered rocks, my nose hovered inches from the ground. The vampire had been here no more than a day ago. I looked up at Leah and asked, "Which direction were they headed?"

In a flash she was human. Her answer was in Quileute. "It doesn't matter, we're looking for their nest. That won't be in the park." She immediately returned to her wolf form. I mounted her again, slightly distracted. While my kind were the perfect predators, the way the wolves thought was what made them the perfect hunters. They, and Leah in particular, understood vampires instinctively. It was an unsettling type of intelligence. During the pack's war games, the wolves often anticipated my, Charlie, or Renata's movements before we actually decided to make them.

The miles disappeared below us, the trail as clear to our noses as a neon sign. It was one AM, and dusk was only starting to descend. At this time of year I doubted it would ever get entirely dark. New scents began filling the air, other vampires. I counted nine. I tried not to get my hopes up. I didn't know how big the Denali coven was, but some of these scents may have been Cullen.

When we saw the house, my unbeating heart leaped. There was no question that this was either the Cullens' or the Denalis' home. The great windows and modern design bore the distinct signature of Esme's hand. Maybe Jacob would be alright. As Leah's heart beat came into the hearing range of the vampires in the house, I heard their conversations trail off. Soon, the only sounds I could hear were those of a couple making love. That ended moments later. We were no more than a hundred yards when the front door burst open and nine vampires stepped out into the Alaskan dusk.

Four of them were Cullens.


	19. Sisters

Standard disclaimer, I own nothing in fact I have a sneaking suspicion that the characters own me...

AN: Sorry for the long delay, life sort of threw me a curve ball a little while back and I've been dealing with it as well as working on a Harry Potter story.

Chapter Two: Sisters

Alice's POV

As Jasper moved over me I matched his body's rhythm with my own. We knew each other so well that we could lose track of hours at a time. That was the only reason I didn't noticed the future going dark. I assume it happened gradually, but I can't remember the transition. One minute everything was normal, the next all that existed was the present and the past, no future. I panicked and pushed Jasper off me. He flew across the room and crashed into the drafting desk I used for fashion design, reducung it to twisted metal and splintered wood. I rolled onto my knees and began fumbling for clothes.

As I pulled my Escada jeans up around my waist I tripped. I actually tripped! Jasper grabbed my shoulders and spun me to face him. "What's wrong?" He could sense my panic and confusion.

A calming fog descended on my mind. "The future's gone."

Jasper jumped to the worst possible conclusion. With his jaw set, he ground out, "No one is coming near you."

"Calm down Jasper, I'm sure it's not because I'm going to die," I lied seamlessly.

In the tense pause we heard the heart beat. It was unlike that of any animal I knew. Jasper directed his head towards the floor. "The others are in the main room, they're worried."

We finished dressing and were downstairs in seconds. The Denali coven had been visiting for a game of bridge with Esme and Carlisle. The five members of their family were staring out the bay windows. Even Irina had pulled herself from her disinterested funk and was somewhat engaged. Carlisle turned from the window. "Who is coming Alice?" he asked, not knowing that I was as blind as them. Without Edward here we had no clue what we were facing.

Jasper answered before I could. "Her sight is gone."

The two shared a look laden with meaning. Eleazar took charge of situation, "We should face her outside."

Her? I looked past my family, out the window. What I saw was very odd. A female vampire appeared to be riding a wolf the size of a horse. That was new. Despite the danger I felt some stirrings of excitement. The past five years had been difficult for my family. Edward was a shell of his former self, barely feeding, rarely coming home. Esme seemed to be in physical pain at the sight of him and when Esme was unhappy Carlisle was unhappy. Jasper felt it all. Rosalie and Emmett just kept bouncing from honeymoon to honeymoon to avoid coming home. I often found myself grieving the sister I would never have. She would be nearly twenty four now. Almost as old as Esme.

Life had become so tense that I had begun having visions of Jasper and I leaving the family permanently. This visitor had managed to break the morose mood of the entire house. For that I was somewhat grateful.

We moved outside. Jasper stayed in front of me, my blindness making him the better fighter. The Denali were poised for a fight, Kate had removed her blouse. Wearing only a tank top, her gift of shocking people with her skin would now be most effective.

The wolf slowed to a stop less than fifty yards from us. The woman leaped from it's back with the same feline grace all wild vampires had. She moved like the predator she was, not used to pretending for humans. I noticed several things in very quick succession. The first was the scars. Horrible disfiguring scars that no vampire should have. Our tissue just didn't heal that way, and venom should have fixed them during her transformation. The second was her expression, everything about her posture exuded relief as she charged towards Carlisle and Esme. Whoever this was, she didn't seem hostile. Lastly was the smell, a godawful reek that defied description. Werewolf, my memory supplied. Carlisle's stories had not done their stench justice.

She came to a stop in a spray of gravel no more than ten feet from us. "Carlisle, we need your help."

Carlisle looked at her quizzically. He didn't seem to recognize her. That was when it clicked for me. Under the smell, the scars, and the plaid work shirt was, "Bella?"

Recognition and surprise spread through my family. I pushed past Jasper and ran towards her. I wrapped the taller girl in a hug, for once not having to worry about injuring her. She briefly returned the gesture only to put her hands on my rib cage and push me back gently. She gave me a look of apology before stepping past me and approaching Carlisle. "I need your help."

Carlisle stepped forward to meet her. "What is wrong?"

She answered with a flurry of words that sounded rehearsed. "I bit Jacob Black, he is a Quileute wolf, his system is trying to fight the venom, but he's dying. You're our last hope."

Carlisle nodded, "Where is he?" Emergency first, reunion later.

Bella pulled out a crumpled map and shook it flat. "The van's parked here." She indicated a spot near the highway.

Carlisle nodded, "We can take the helicopter."

"Helicopter?" Bella asked incredulously.

Carlisle smiled, embarrassed. "It is useful for supplies, this house is very isolated." There was a whirlwind of activity as Esme and Jasper took the helicopter out of its the storage shed. The machine was light enough to be carried by two vampires. So many questions whirled through my mind. What had happened to Bella? How long had she been a vampire? What on Earth was she doing with those disgusting creatures?

The werewolf was pacing warily about a hundred yards from the house. It's eyes were constantly moving between us, clearly suspicious. The Denali coven was watching the whole situation with as much confusion as I felt. There was a tense moment when Bella realized that only a three people would fit in the helicopter. She ran out to speak with her wolf. The animal briefly took the form of a woman and the two exchanged words in a language I didn't understand. It was a shame Edward wasn't here to translate. The reminder of my brother brought a halt to my thoughts, he needed to know Bella was a vampire!

I was about to pull out my cell and call him when Bella hurried over to me. The red tint to her eyes saddened me, I remembered how much she had valued human life when she was alive. I wish we had been there to help her avoid killing people. That was something we could work on after Carlisle had helped her friend. She looked worried, "Can I trust the Denali coven not to attack Leah?"

I glanced over at Tanya and the others. They were watching the wolf with considerable suspicion. Bella saw my hesitation. She reached out and touched my arm, "Keep her safe, she's family."

"Of course, I promise." I tried not to let the hurt from those words show on my face. I had always thought that we would be family.

Bella gave me a weak smile before running off to the helicopter pad, Carlisle was waiting in the cockpit. As the helicopter took off I pulled out my phone and dialled Edward's number. An apathetic voice answered, "What?"

"Bella's in Denali, she's a vampire." There was no answer, only moment of silence followed by a crunch as the cellphone on the other end was crushed.

Carlisle's POV

I only paid a small amount of attention to the actual takeoff of the helicopter. Most was focused on my copilot. I have to say, I had begun to doubt I would ever see Bella Swan again. Edward could be extremely stubborn but I had never expected him to stay away from her for this long. Maybe now that Bella was one of us, my family could begin the long process of healing.

I caught a glimpse of her drawn and worried face reflecting in the glass and realized that I had to deal with my family issues later. Whoever Jacob Black was to her, he meant a great deal. I had to wonder why the wolves tolerated her. Our kinds had such a deeply embedded instinctual hatred of one another it was hard to believe they hadn't killed each other.

Speculating about that would get me nowhere, we could discuss it after Jacob was stabilized. "Tell me about the patient." Though my voice was far softer than the roar of the helicopter engine she would have no trouble making out my words.

As we moved through the false dusk of the arctic, she spoke. "He was bitten four days and three hours ago on the forearm. It tried to suck the venom out, but it was no use. I hit a vein when I bit, by the time I realized he was poisoned the venom was in his heart. He was fighting the infection for twenty four hours before we started transfusing blood from Seth and Leah. I think the venom keeps burning through the blood "

I did not let my surprise show when I asked, "You bit him? May I ask how the bite occurred." I felt my grip tighten on the controls of the helicopter. I knew that the wolves could be violent. If that was why Bella bore the scars she did, then I would do everything in my power to get her away from them. Guilt was pouring off the girl and there was no need for it if the bite was self defence. While Edward may have ended their relationship, I would always think of Bella as one of my daughters.

Bella shifted in her seat. Instead of answering she asked, "Do you think it's medically relevant?"

That raised several flags. Usually patients were most evasive when they had something important to conceal. "It may be."

For a moment only the sound of the engines filled the cockpit. Finally she answered. "It was sex."

I looked over at her, doing a poor job of concealing my shock. She continued, "I was bent over the end of our bed. He put his hand down next to my face for balance. By the time I realized that I had bitten him it was too late. The venom was in his heart and he couldn't phase to fight the poison."

I saw her crumple into the seat. Now that she was talking she didn't seem to be able to stop. I was certainly in no state to stop her. "We've been married for nearly four years! I never slipped up once." She began sobbing, "The pack needs him, the tribe needs him, and I need him. He is the best person I've ever known and because of me he's dying." For the first time I noticed the modest gold band on her ring finger.

I lifted a hand and put it on her shoulder. Normally skilled at comforting patients I could think of little more to say than, "I will do everything I can to help him." I would do everything I could to help the man who Bella had chosen to marry. Though I dreaded Edward's reaction when he found out, the shock may actually be enough to kill him.

For the rest of the journey Bella told me about the changes in Jacob's skin colour and body temperature over the past four days. Apparently his fever was somewhere above 125 degrees. She explained how Seth and Leah Clearwater had made the journey north in an effort to find me. As the helicopter descended next to the van, a bear of a man came out of the back, Seth Clearwater. Not many people could make Emmett seem small but Seth did so easily. As soon as we touched down Bella was out and running toward him. I heard him say, "He got worse fast."

Bella hurried past him to the source of the struggling heart beat I heard in the truck. Seth spared me a glance. "It's good she found you Dr. Cullen."

Seth seemed more trusting than the other wolf, but I wanted to make sure he wouldn't attack me if I went near his friend. "May I see Jacob?"

Seth nodded, "I'll help Bella get him out of the truck." He moved to the open doors and said, "On three."

As they slid out a large metal stretcher I got my first look at my patient. Even lying down and struggling to breathe I could tell that this man dwarfed Seth. He was wearing only a pair of boxers and his entire body was soaked in sweat. When the stretcher reached the edge of the van Bella lifted slightly and helped Seth get it to the ground without jostling Jacob.

As soon as he was settled she was at his side, gripping his hand. I moved to give him a quick exam, to make sure he was safe to move, but when I came within five feet of him his heart stuttered before speeding up. His half closed eyes bulged open and his head craned in my direction. He searched blindly for the threat, making weak wheezing growling noises.

I stopped my advance. Bella immediately put her hand on his forehead, in a soothing voice that hid her worry she said, "Shh Jacob, it's only Carlisle. He's here to help." He calmed slightly and the growls turned to whimpers. Bella continued, "It's alright, it's alright, it's alright."

I inched forward until I was kneeling next to my patient. Bella's bite-mark stood out on his left forearm, two torn crescents. The tissue surrounding it was almost completely changed by the venom. It formed a circle nearly ten centimetres across. I touched it gently. The action cause a spasm of pain to shoot up Jacob's weakened body. The tissue was the same consistency as my own skin. I briefly noted the band tattooed around his ring finger. I suppose a wedding ring would not be very convenient for a shapeshifter.

Seth spoke up, "That's happened in the past twenty four hours. We've been considering amputating to keep it from spreading."

I shook my head, "I will be honest. While there are some things I can try that may help him fight the infection I do not think it will save his life." Bella went very still, her free arm wrapped itself around her abdomen as if trying to physically hold herself together. Seth moved beside her and placed a hand on her shoulder. "There is the other option of trying to help the change along."

Bella's eyes left Jacob's face. Her expression was conflicted. I could see hope, but also resignation. "No."

"Bella..." I tried to speak, but she cut me off.

"No Carlisle, Jacob did not want that." Her jaw was set.

Again I wondered about their relationship. Jacob clearly hated my kind, to the point where his wife would rather let him die than have him become like her. Yet she seemed completely devoted to him. I saw the scars again wondered if she was an abuse victim. I desperately hoped I was wrong about it, but the signs were there.

Seth intervened, "Is it safe to move him?" I nodded and he continued, "Lets get him to your place, then we can talk about treatments."

We ended up connecting the stretcher directly to the helicopter's winch cable, there not being enough room inside the cockpit for Jacob's prone form. Seth joined me in the cockpit while Bella remained perched on the stretcher one foot on either side its frame, one hand griping the winch cable for balance. Thankfully the dusk would conceal the strange sight from any intrepid hikers or hunters.

As we flew Seth drummed his fingers nervously on the armrest. Eventually he turned to me and said, "So you're Carlisle Cullen."

I nodded despite the fact that it wasn't a question. "I take it Bella told you about my family?"

Seth shrugged, "Just the basics, said you guys were like family until you disappeared." This time his word had bite to them. There was very real anger behind them.

I sighed, I wish we hadn't had to leave, but Edward had found it painful enough separating himself from her. It would have tortured him to see her in our thoughts constantly. In voice low enough that Bella would not hear, I asked, "What happened to her? Has she been alone all this time?"

Seth shook his head, and answered at normal volume, "I think Bella can tell you that when Jacob's stable."

The rest of the trip passed in silence. I went through the lists of treatments that may help Jacob. I considered and then threw out idea after idea; anti-virals, immune suppressants, even kidney dilation. I knew next to nothing about the werewolves physiology, but something inside Jacob was actually fighting the change. I had never thought such a thing was possible.

As the helicopter reached the house I saw Esme, Alice and Jasper waiting. Esme came forward and helped Bella detach her husband's stretcher from the winch cable before the helicopter had even landed. I was not looking forward to telling Esme that Edward was not going to be able to court Bella now that she was a vampire.

By the time we touched down, Jacob was inside. Seth left the passenger seat and was nearly clipped by the spinning blades. After tossing the bags he had brought from the van onto the ground, he ran over to Leah. She was still in her wolf form, standing at the edge of the light produced by the house. After a few words the wolf transformed into her human form and put on a tank top and shorts. The two walked towards the house, their movements unnervingly in sync.

The wolves I had met at the turn of the century had displayed similar behaviour, as though they possessed one mind and two bodies. How long had they been in the pack? It was a testament to their devotion to their Alpha that they would leave La Push unprotected in an attempt to help him. Or perhaps there were more than tree wolves? That seemed unlikely, from what I knew of their legends a pack larger than three was very rare.

Esme reappeared in the doorway. "Your friend is in the library with Bella, would you like to come in."

Leah's eyes narrowed in suspicion at the my wife's words, but Seth looked grateful for the invitation. "Thanks."

Esme looked to me, and I said, "I'll be in shortly."

As the three disappeared inside. I turned to Jasper and Alice. Despite the mood Alice looked excited. Jasper was more reserved. She was bouncing on the balls of her feet. "What is it Alice?"

She grinned, "I had a vision. Edward will be here tonight at nine! He's already on a plane."

Jasper sensed my sudden apprehension. "What is the matter Carlisle?"

I looked to the house, "Alice, Jacob isn't just a friend of Bella's." I hesitated, "He's her husband."

Alice looked horrified. "But they smell awful! How can she go near them?"

I raised my hands to calm her, "We don't know what has happened to her since we left. It is possible she married him before her change. I'm worried that Edward's presence could complicate things."

A particularly loud scream from Jacob came from the house. "Can you and Jasper take the helicopter to Anchorage for medication and equipment? I will call them with a list of things I need."

Alice nodded, "The distance from the wolves should help my visions. They seem to be able to block me." I headed inside, as I went I made list of the supplies I would need.

Jacob's stretcher was on the floor of the library, the furniture had been pushed up against the walls leaving the room looking barren. Bella knelt next to him and was pressing a compress against his head while Seth and Leah stood behind them, there was no mistaking their role as body guards. The effect was somewhat ruined by their apparent exhaustion. I could hear Esme coming down from my study. She had no doubt gone to fetch the paltry medical supplies I had stored there.

Before attending to Jacob I said to the Quileutes, "You can rest if you need to. You have my word that none of my family will hurt you."

Seth looked tempted by the offer but his sister answered, "We're good."

Bella looked up from Jacob. "It's all right Leah, you need food and sleep. I won't leave the room." The wolves' stomachs growled at the mention of food, but Leah remained stubborn. "Please Leah, you'll need to be awake when I leave to hunt." Whether or not Bella was sincere about Jacob needing a guard while she was gone, or merely attempting to get Leah to take care of herself I wasn't sure.

Leah glared at Bella, "What? Your last meal not holding you over?"

Bella hissed and recoiled as though physically struck. Seth came to her defence, "Leah! What the hell?" A tremor ran down his arms.

What followed was a heated argument between the two that was a mixture of English and Quileute. I could not understand most of what was said, but it ended with Leah storming past me and out of the house. Seth was quick to follow her. As he passed me he asked, "Can we crash on the couches in here? It's the only way to get her to sleep."

I nodded, "Of course. Will you be needing to hunt?"

Seth shook his head, "No, we packed some food in the helicopter."

When they had left Esme came back into the room and made a bee line for Bella. She put down my medical bag and hugged the distraught girl. Having heard Leah's verbal jab from my study she did her best to comfort Bella. "It's alright sweetheart, we all slip up."

Bella shook her head, "It's alright, that's just Leah. You don't know how hard it is for her to be in the same room as you guys and not attack something."

I began Jacob's exam. Bella watched like a hawk. Esme stayed behind her rubbing circles on her back. "Do they attack you often?" Esme asked. The question was said in a light, almost dismissive tone, but I tensed. She had the same concerns of domestic violence I did, I should have known she would pick up on the signs.

Bella realized what was being asked. She turned away from Jacob and faced my wife, giving her a full view of the horrific scarring. Bella's tone was polite but very firm. "Esme, the pack are my friends and family. I got these scares when Laurent came for me. I survived because Jacob was old enough to phase. He still feels guilty about them, please don't ever bring it up in front of him."

Esme looked horrified. "Why didn't you come and find us Bella? We could have helped."

Bella shook her head and looked down at Jacob's sweaty form. Beneath the guilt and fear there was a very tender fondness. "I didn't tell you that to make you feel guilty Esme. I wasn't your responsibility. Things have been hard, but I up until I bit Jacob, we were happy."

Realization dawned on Esme. She quickly glanced down at Bella's hand in Jacob's. She saw the wedding band on her left ring finger and the tattoo on his ring finger. She then looked over at me, I nodded in confirmation. Without missing a beat she said, "We shouldn't have left you alone Bella, and we will do anything we can to help."

Bella smiled gratefully. "Thank you Esme, that means a lot."

As I neared the end of the exam I said, "You may want to leave the room Bella, I need to take a blood sample."

Bella shook her head, "I'll be alright."

"There is no need to punish yourself by staying in the room." Being exposed to fresh human blood would be agony for a vampire Bella's age.

Bella shook her head, "I'll be fine."

I didn't argue with her, but kept an eye on her face while I drew blood from the left arm and several other sites on his body. I was surprised when the only discomfort I saw in her was a slight tightening around her eyes. She was actually handling herself better than Esme.

I set the small vials of blood aside. I sat back from my patient and made a quick phone call to the Anchorage hospital. They would have most of what I needed in stock. I was just about finished my exam when the other wolves came back from their meal.

"Have you tried administering any pain medication since this happened?"

Bella shook her head, "We didn't know how it would react with the venom."

I nodded, "That shouldn't be a problem. You wouldn't happen to know what dosage he should take, do you?"

Seth nodded, "I have a table of doses and how long the effects last in a healthy wolf." He went and rummaged through a bad and handed me a sheet of paper with the doses printed out.

I eyed them skeptically, "This is ten times what I would give a human Jacob's size."

Seth shrugged, "The effect have never lasted longer than an hour for that dose."

"Never the less I would like to start him on half this amount. It may allow him to sleep." I removed a syringe and an ampule of morphine from my bag and gave him the dosage. The effect was less than I had hoped, though I do believe he was calmed by it.

I repeated the tests I had done on Jacob with Seth in order to get an idea of a normal baseline for a werewolf, then called Anchorage with a second list of drugs and equipment I would need. I will admit that I did not have very high hopes of it working. When I hung up I turned to Bella and her friends, "I have some suspicions about Jacob's condition, but I will need to examine his blood further to make sure. If you need to hunt, Bella, now would be a good time. Seth, Leah, you may sleep on the couches in here if you don't want to leave Jacob's side."

Bella glanced back at them, "I can hunt after you've caught up on your sleep." A look laden with meaning was exchanged between her and Leah. I did not understand it, but Leah seemed to.

Each of them chose a couch and collapsed on it. They were asleep in seconds. I excused myself and headed upstairs to examine the blood under a microscope.

**Hope you enjoyed, as always comments and criticisms welcomed.**


	20. Esme's POV

**As usual, I own nothing!**

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**Sorry for the gap between chapters life has a habit of being a full time job:)**

**On the celebratory side 100 reviews! Thanks for the feed back, it's always nice to know people actually read this stuff.**

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**Esme's POV**

When Bella first showed up riding the Leah I had not recognized her. It broke my heart to see the scars covering her face, a testament to some horrible attack. My first though after realizing who she was, was of Edward. He no longer had an excuse to stay away. I knew he would blame himself for Bella's injuries as well as her current status as a vampire, but his guilt would be a thousand times better than his grief.

Once Bella and Carlisle left, Alice's visions began working again. Not perfectly, it seemed that the wolves caused some kind of interference. However one thing came through clearly, Edward was coming home. Even though Bella's friend was still in danger, I couldn't help my happiness. Alice contacted Emmett and told him the good news.

The man Carlisle brought back was not what I expected. I sat through both Rosalie and Emmett's transformations and neither had reacted to the venom in that way. It looked like his body was doing everything it could to fight the change. The care with which Bella carried him into the library was heart breaking. It was as though he was a fragile baby bird rather than a three hundred pound werewolf.

We moved the furniture out of the way and I was about to go find Carlisle's medical equipment when Bella stopped me. She placed a hand on my arm. "Thank you Esme."

I covered her hand with my own. "Of course Bella."

I had been willing to give the wolves the benefit of the doubt until the female made the comment about Bella feeding off Jacob. Anyone could see that Bella was being torn apart by her actions, and for that woman, Leah, to rub it it... I had to suppress a growl. However, what was worse was how Bella brushed away the abuse. I knew what it was like to be in a relationship like that, how I would explain away the bruises to my mother and sisters. How many times would a wolf have to claw a vampire up before the scars became permanent? Until today I hadn't known scars like that were even possible, they made Jasper's seem tame.

When the wolves left us I tried to broach the subject tactfully. I couldn't understand the response she gave. Laurent had come back for her? How had Alice not seen that? Why hadn't Bella come to find us after her change? It must have been terrifying to wake alone in this world as a vampire. Alice and Carlile's stories were simply awful at least Alice possessed her visions as a guide. It was not until Bella explained that Jacob had been there for her that I noticed the ring.

I also noticed his tattoo. She hadn't been alone. I did the math, Laurent had disappeared from Denali only five months after we had left Forks. Jacob would have been sixteen then. Despite what their relationship meant for Edward I found myself glad that there had been someone with Bella. Had he protected her from Leah and Seth? I knew the Quileute packs had an Alpha, but I wasn't sure which of three it was. Leah certainly seemed to be the dominant one here, but Jacob was not in any shape to lead.

Once the wolves were asleep and Carlisle was in his study I approached Bella and whispered, "I'm sorry for assuming your husband was abusing you."

Bella looked up at me from his trembling body. "It's alright Esme. I know how it looks from the outside. They do take some getting used to." I wasn't sure if she was talking about the scars or the wolves.

In a surprisingly human gesture she shifted her sitting position so that her legs were crossed. She ran her hand through Jacob's hair, humming a song softly. I recognized the tune as Leonard Cohen's Halleluiah. When he calmed slightly she smiled. "He told me his mom used to sing it to him when he was sick."

I matched her position on the floor. "Why didn't you try and find us Bella? We weren't that hard to find."

Bella didn't answer at first. Her fingers didn't pause as they stroked Jacob's hair. "It took me a long time to recover after Edward left. He deserved his chance to be happy, and I knew I would have been distracting him from his distractions." She chuckled, "By the time I realized that asking your family for help was a reasonable thing to do, I didn't actually need it." She sighed, "Besides you are the ones who left. You were like a family to me and you just left me alone in Forks without even saying goodby. What's an insecure 17 year old supposed to think about that?"

Not for the first time I wondered what Edward had told her when he had broken things off. I leaned in and placed a reassuring hand on her shoulder. "I am sorry Bella, more sorry than you can imagine for leaving you on your own. Edward convinced us that a clean break would be easiest for you."

She gave a bitter chuckle that belied her youthful appearance, "You have no idea how much I hate that expression."

I resolved then and there to do anything I could to help her. "However this turns out I want you to know that you always have a place with my family."

Bella's hand stilled, "I have a family back in La Push. It's not just the wolves, there's Charlie and Ren."

"How is Charlie?" I had completely forgotten Bella's quiet father. I should have guessed that he would have found out about Bella.

Bella shrugged, "He's doing well. He didn't like being a vampire at first, but it let him find Ren so I think he considers it a good trade."

"Wait, did Laurent attack him as well?" What had been going on in Forks?

Bella shook her head. "No, that was Victoria. She attacked the house looking for me, Charlie got caught in the cross fire." Bella shuddered, seeming to flash back to the attack.

I felt a fresh wave of guilt. None of this would have happened if we hadn't left Forks. Was that why the wolves seemed so nervous and secretive? Was Victoria still around. "Is Victoria still harassing you?"

"No we finally managed to deal with her." I sighed with relief. That woman had been a monster.

"I hope we can at least stay in touch. Just because you won't join our family doesn't mean we have to lose contact for another five years."

Bella did smile at this, "I'd like that."

In order to fill the time while we waited on Carlisle's tests I told here about my current projects, mainly the house Carlisle and I would be building on Isle Esme. Bella was purposefully vague about the details of her life in Forks. When she left things out I did my best not to pry. I was sure she had her reasons for her privacy. I was amazed when she mentioned that taught special needs children on the reservation. It surprised me that the Quileute elders would let her near children at all.

Jasper and Alice returned within an hour and joined us in the library after unloading the supplies. Jasper had to leave quickly due to the smell of blood lingering in the air. Once the three of us were alone I noticed a tension between Alice and Bella.

The two had been so close in Forks, though it was hard to believe given the awkward conversation. Perhaps Alice was thrown off by her lack of visions? Perhaps Bella was still hurt by our departure. As much as I cared for Bella, I had not been as close to her as Alice was. The fact that Alice hadn't contacted her probably hurt deeply.

During the night Bella regularly administered morphine to her husband. Whether or not it eased his pain was hard to tell. It was almost eight AM by the time Carlisle came down with his results. He stood in the doorway of the library with one of the vials of blood.

Bella roused the sleeping Quileute as soon as Carlisle entered the room. The three stood before him, Leah in the middle. Leah was instantly alert while Seth was slower in waking. I could tell from Carlisle's expression that it was not good news. "I'm sorry Bella, I know you were looking for a way of reversing the change, but I don't believe it will be possible."

Bella let out a stream of air like she had just been struck in the chest. Alice moved in to try and comfort her but was stopped by a glare from Leah. The tall woman put an arm around Bella's shoulder in an awkward one armed hug. Bella only leaned into the movement slightly, but did seem to draw comfort from it. Seth looked very young, and Leah leaned her head on his shoulder and he rubbed his cheek against her short cropped hair. She seemed to be the pillar of strength for the other two.

Carlisle watched the scene with polite detachment. I wondered if the others in the room could see how much he hated delivering this news. "I had hoped I could give him an antiviral to give his immune system a fighting chance, but the infection is too widespread. I tried the medication on the blood samples just in case, but they had no effect on the venom." Bella's arms snaked up around her body until she was hugging her chest. Carlisle continued, "While I can't stop the change, I may be able to increase Jacob's chances of surviving the process."

Bella's head bobbed up. "No. I already told you, absolutely not."

"Bella..." Carlisle coaxed.

She shook her head, "No Carlisle. Jacob didn't want to become one of us. I won't put him through that."

I couldn't have been the only one who saw how much it pained Bella to say those words. Neither wolf contradicted her. Carlisle spoke with his usual calm control, "Please Bella, Edward will be here in twelve hours. If we begin treatment now he will be able to tell us Jacob's thoughts on the matter.

Bella seemed surprised by the mention of Edward. Instead of enquiring about him she asked, "What if we don't begin treatment?"

Carlisle sighed, a human action he had perfected after centuries with patients. I wondered if he was even aware he did it anymore. "The reaction of his immune system to the venom is causing a build up of plaque in his blood stream. The longer it goes without treatment, the greater the chance of a serious blood clot forming. If this happens in his brain he will die."

Bella hesitated and glanced at Leah. Leah saw her reaction and shook her head, "I don't need that leach to tell me what's in Jake's head. He didn't want to be a vampire."

Bella's arms tightened around her abdomen and my heart went out to her. I could see her wince every time Jacob let out a whimper of pain. It was clear that she was at war with herself, wanting her husband to stay alive, but not wanting to force what she was onto him. I wondered if she knew how Edward had struggled with the same waring desires? "What's the treatment?"

I let out a breath, remembering to move once again. It was clear she had decided to allow the treatment, at least until Edward arrived. Before Carlisle could answer Leah swore, "Bullshit. Fucking bullshit." She then stormed from the room.

Her brother followed saying, "I'll talk to her."

"Don't go far, we will need to start giving Jacob transfusions soon." Carlisle said. Seth nodded before leaving the room.

Carlisle turned back to Bella. "I believe that mixing the blood of his pack mates with venom and then using a centrifuge to remove the clotting agents before transfusion will help him. That and some blood thinners are his best chance at survival."

Bella nodded, "You have my consent if you're sure this is the best course of action."

"I believe it is," he answered.

I felt some relief that Bella had decided to allow Jacob to be treated. Despite the fact that Jacob's presence meant inevitable heartbreak for my son. I could not wish death upon the man. He had helped Bella when none of us could, saving him was the least we could do

It was close to an hour before Seth returned without his sister. Before Bella could ask he said, "She's outside, needs some time to deal."

Bella looked back at Jacob. "She's right, I don't need Edward to tell me that Jacob doesn't want this."

Seth collapsed into one of the couches pushed against the side of the room. He shrugged. "Maybe, but he would rather be a cold one than have you be the one who killed him."

Bella did not look convinced, but she did not stop Carlisle when he took a transfusion from Seth and began Jacob's treatment. Though I didn't voice it, I was concerned. If Jacob did manage to survive the change, what would he be?


	21. Edward's Back!

Disclaimer: I own none of these characters, if I did the series would have ended with an alien invasion.

AN:As you can see I am in fact still alive. Research is a killer so I'm taking a few weeks off at Christmas to polish up a few chapters for posting. Edward is a tricky character for me to write because he is such a mixture of old and experienced with teenage hormones. I hope he comes off in a way similar to Cannon.

Edward's POV

I didn't bother taking the time to rent a car when I arrived at the Anchorage airport. It would just waste precious minutes. I had made this run before and knew that I could get to my family's home faster on foot.

During the flight I was so anxious that I crushed my armrest into a mangled mass of plastic and metal. I had expected Alice's call to be another plea for me to return home, it was lucky that I had even bothered answering. What she said shook me to my very core. I had left to keep Bella safe from this life, not so she could be turned into a monster!

How many times had I found my feet carrying me back towards Forks? Some days I would make it all the way to an airport gate before I could summon the will to run. Scenario after scenario played itself over in my head. Had she been attacked? Had she come to Denali in desperation, seeking help with her new life?

How much of her suffering could I have eased if I had been there for her? I wanted to use one of the plane's phones to call Alice for details. However I couldn't risk this all being a hallucination. Over the years I had seen Bella many times. She was everywhere, a market in Belize, taking a boat in Paris. Then I would look again and it was just some girl with a passing resemblance.

It was very possible that my mind had made up the phone call from Alice. I couldn't call her to check for fear that Bella wasn't there. It was a dream and a nightmare. Bella was one of us, but Bella was one of us. I was running as fast as I could through tundra and forest to verify her existence, but I couldn't pick up a phone to check. I was a living contradiction.

What would I do if this was all just another hallucination? Would I go back to the abandoned factory in Brazil I had called home for the past four weeks? No, I bowed my head in resignation. It was no use, for years I had felt my resolve to stay away from Bella being eroded. The phone call was the last straw. Perhaps Alice had seen that.

I would find my way back to my beloved and find some way of making her forgive me. As much as I wanted to want her to be happily married with a family, I could not imagine a man capable of treating her as well as she deserved.

My thoughts turned back to Alice's message. How could she be a vampire? Yes she was a danger magnet, but who would have had the self control to turn her? I clenched my teeth at the thought that one of my family had returned to Forks and changed her. That would have been the ultimate betrayal of my trust, but who else could have done it? I doubted Victoria could have returned for her, Alice promised to keep an eye on that monster. The second Victoria made a decision to return to Forks, Alice would have called me.

It was nearly 9:00 PM when my parents' house came into view. In the back of my mind I noticed a familiar musky scent, I heard the beat of large hearts, but I paid them no attention. I may as well have been in a hunt for all I cared about such extraneous details. The only scent that mattered was hers. It was both achingly familiar and subtly different. It drew me as strongly as the scent of her blood once had, but with none of the thirst.

I pulled the front door open with enough force to warp the metal frame. It would need to be replaced, I was beyond caring. For a moment I was confused when I heard the thoughts of Jasper, Alice, and Esme coming from the far end of the house. Then the scent of blood reached me, it was fresh and it was human.

I could hear Carlisle's thoughts in the library but that was it. Had Bella killed someone on the way here? God how terrible she must feel. As I burst through the library doors I was stopped by the scene in front of me. Carlisle was collecting blood from the arm of a barely clothed Quileute woman seated in his reclining chair, while another Quileute was monitoring a transfusion to a man lying on a cot on the floor. It took me a moment to identify the man as Jacob Black. He had certainly grown since I met him in Forks half a decade ago.

Still these details were superfluous because she was there. She was working at a table with a centrifuge and syringe, both were made of a glass that was almost resistant to the corrosive effects of the our venom. Carlisle used them for his research into the fluid.

Several things happened at once. The male abandoned his post at the transfusion and put himself between Jacob and I. The female tore the needle from her arm and sprung from her chair to do the same. Carlisle stood to face me his thoughts curiously controlled. I didn't care because Bella was there, her eyes wide with surprise. The warm chocolate colour I remembered so clearly replaced with red tinted black.

How could I have stayed away from this angel for so long? I was about to cross the room and take her into my arms when I noticed the scars. They stopped me cold. I felt nauseous, then I took in the smell. The reek of wet dog, only a hundred times worse. That smell that could only come from one thing. My eyes shifted to the Quileute. "Werewolves." My breath came out as a hiss. One of them had hurt Bella, my Bella. Crouching, I readied myself to spring at the male. I listened for their thoughts only to hear none. The wolves mirrored my actions. Carlisle was shouting at me to stop with both his words and thoughts, but I ignored him. One of them had hurt Bella and I would tear out their throats for it. The confrontation was not to be. As I began my attack, a vampire hurled itself into my chest. The momentum carried the two of us through the open library doors and twenty feet down the hallway. We were only stopped by the wall at the opposite end.

I realized two things very quickly. The first was that it had been Bella who had attacked me. The second was that she had managed to put me in an arm lock before we had stopped moving. She was perched on my chest, right knee digging into my sternum. My right arm was secured by her left and her free hand was wrapped around the back of my neck at the base of my skull. Unlike the wrestling holds that my brothers and I used to use, her attack was meant to remove my head as quickly as possible. Where would she even learn such a thing?

She only held the position for an instant before releasing me and springing backwards. The attack was over so quickly that I was left wondering if I had imagined the hold. By this time the hallway was filled with my family and the female wolf. The male had not left Jacob Black's side. The female's form was vibrating and I wondered why she had not transformed. Bella looked both embarrassed and determined as she stood between me and the wolf. By the time I got to my feet, Jasper was at my side sending calming waves over everyone.

Surprisingly it was not Alice, but Esme who went to Bella's side and asked, "Are you alright?"

Bella began to look mortified, "I'm so sorry about the wall."

Esme looked past me at the shattered drywall we had crashed into moments ago. Her thoughts asked, "What did you say to her?" Out loud she said, "Don't worry about the wall, it's easily fixed."

Bella shook her head, "Please let me repair it. Destroying your house is an awful way of thanking you for your help."

"It's alright Bella, you have more important things to worry about." An image of Jacob flashed through my mother's mind and I was thoroughly confused. I sought clarification in my family's minds, however everyone was studiously thinking of other things. Bella looked like she wanted to argue but remained silent. I felt a surge of fondness. It was endearing how uncomfortable she was with the smallest act of charity.

The momentary reprieve from anger did not last as I again saw the scars. How could my family be so blase about them? One of those wolves had attacked her! Why were they even welcome in the house?

Alice looked from me to Bella and asked, "What happened?"

Carlisle answered for us, "Leah and Seth startled Edward. Bella was able to diffuse the situation."

Despite Jasper's influence I felt my rage getting the best of me. "How could you let those things into our house after what they did to her?" I yelled at Carlisle.

I stepped towards Bella and gently brought my hand up to her injured cheek. I could hear my family yelling at me with their thoughts, but I didn't listen. I needed to make Bella understand the danger she was in. I focused on her so intently I was surprised my thoughts were not pushed into her head telepathically. I needed to get her away from them. "Bella when I left Forks, you promised me you wouldn't do anything reckless. Don't you remember? I told you that there were worst things in the world than our kind. It's them Bella." I gestured at the female wolf with my free hand.

"Watch it leech." The female spat. Rather than look offended at my comment, the female was watching Bella with nearly sadistic anticipation. It unnerved me that I could not penetrate her thoughts. Bella remained frozen in place.

I ran my thumb down the scarred side of Bella's face. "I left to protect you from this world Bella. I should have known it would do little good. Of course you would find the one monster in this world worse than us. The one creature more vile and violent."

I felt the blow before seeing it. The slap didn't hurt, thought it took me completely by surprise. I stepped back from Bella stunned that she would actually hit me. When I looked at her I cringed. She was the very image of an angered goddess. Her scars were twisted and contorted by her facial muscles. "How dare you call them monsters!" she hissed, then added incredulously, "and you didn't leave to protect me, you left because you were bored!"

"That was a lie..." She cut me off before I could explain.

"I don't care! I don't care about why you left and I don't care about what you did to me. You don't get to call them monsters. I know exactly what they are. They are children who've had their humanity stripped away to protect people. To protect people From Us."

"They are the ones who sleep two hours a night to keep their people safe, then work full time to make ends meet because 'werewolf' isn't a paying job. They are the ones whose loved ones never know if they will be coming back from a patrol." She shook her head violently, "You don't get to judge the man I married because he slipped while pulling Laurent off me. And you will never have the right to call them monsters."

Bella then stormed back into the library. The female followed without turning her back on us. I understood her sadistic smile now. She had know Bella would react this way. I wondered if she knew the effect Bella's words would have on me, it felt like a hole had just been torn out of my chest. When my mind caught up with Bella's words I whispered, "Married?"


	22. Changing

Disclaimer: I own nothing

Another Chapter already? Must be Christmas!

AN: Ever since deciding to change Jacob, I've been wrestling with what abilities would be enhanced, and what the final cost of the transformation, here we start to see some of the costs of his transformation.

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**Changing**

Bella POV

I returned to the library, shell shocked from my encounter with Edward. Seth gave me sympathetic look, "That was pretty intense."

I nodded not really wanting to talk about it. We all knew the Cullen's would hear every word. Leah didn't care, and gave a barking laugh. "What a little douche!" It was the first time she showed any sign of humour since Jacob was bitten. I was too weary to react.

Seth, never one to take pleasure in someone's discomfort defended Edward, "Leave it alone Leah."

Leah sneered, and the humour left her face as she remembered that she was still angry with the two of us for helping Jacob's change. Glaring at the door as though she could see Edward through it, she asked, "You really gonna to trust him to tell you what Jacob wants? Not exactly unbiased is he?"

I followed her gaze. I couldn't believe I had slapped Edward. I was not a violent person, in vampiric terms I was a pacifist, but he had just made me so angry. I was hungry, I was an emotional wreck, and I was sick of the Cullens assuming the worst of my husband and his kind. I understood the vampires' aversion to the wolves, I really did, after all I felt it too. Maybe I had hoped that Edward would see past his instincts to the fact that our kind tended to be the bad guys in this fairy tale.

I clenched my teeth as replayed the conversation in my mind, how dare he call my boys monsters? I welcomed the anger, it was easier to dwell on that than any other feelings Edward may have aroused in me.

Leah had asked a very good question, could I trust Edward to tell me Jacob's thoughts? More importantly, had I been using Edward's absence as an excuse to keep my husband alive just a little longer. Leah saw my hesitation and understood what it was. "Does it even matter what he tells you?"

I glared at her. "Of course it does." It had been so easy to stick to Jacob's wishes when he had been so close to death, when there had been no hope. However, Carlisle's treatment, though simple, was working and Jacob was changing. As selfish as it was, I wanted Jacob with me, even though I knew he hated what he would become. I also knew that Seth was right, and that Jacob wouldn't want me to be the one who killed him. Could I take advantage of his love for me? Could I force him into a life that went against his nature because the alternative would cause me pain? I knew what Jacob would say, stupid, stubborn, loving Jacob.

I shook my head, I would listen to what Edward said before making a final decision. "Edward?" I raised my voice, more out of politeness than necessity, I knew he had heard every word of our conversation.

I pushed down any embarrassment I felt about our argument, we could deal with that later. The library door creaked open and a very hesitant Edward stepped in. Without looking up from the floor he said, "Carlisle explained what you need me to do." Before I could acknowledge his words , he continued, "I must apologize, it seems that the wolves have developed the ability to shield themselves from me."

I didn't want to explain my shield to him. Not because of lack of trust, more out of fear that Aro would read him one day. However the risk of that seemed small. As far as I could tell Edward had never actually met the Volturi leader and had no reason to seek him out. Was Jacob's consent worth the small risk to the Quileute? "Can you promise me that you will keep whatever you see in Jacob's mind a secret? No matter what it is?"

Edward looked up sharply, I wondered what he thought we were hiding. He nodded, face smoothed of expression. "Even from your family?" I pushed.

He nodded again, "Of course."

I looked back at Leah, she was glaring at Edward, but didn't object. I pulled my shield away from Jacob's shaking body. It went against my instincts to leave him unprotected while he was suffering, but I needed to know. The effect on Edward was immediate. His eyes widened and he froze the way only a vampire could. Even my superior vision couldn't detect any movement. He may as well have been made of stone. He finally spoke through clenched teeth, "Ask him."

I flitted to Jacob's side and took his hand in mine. "Jacob, I need you to tell me what you want. Do you want me to let you change?" There was no response, not even a hitch in this tremors. I asked again to the same effect.

Edward finally gasped, "Enough."

I pushed my shield back around Jacob, and watched Edward relax. He briefly made eye contact with me before looking back at Jacob. "He is in too much pain to form coherent thoughts, all I can hear is the wolf's screams." I squeezed Jacob's hand tighter. Edward saw my desperation and added, "He is fighting Bella. His thoughts are incoherent, but he is fighting to stay alive, that much is clear." It sounded like it physically hurt Edward to say those words.

The last of my resolve crumbled. If Jacob was fighting, then some part of him had to want to stave off death. It may be that he was only fighting so hard because he believed his wolf could beat the venom and that he would be waking as a human, but that was a risk I had to take. "Thank you Edward."

Leah swore, "Fuck this!" Only someone who knew her would realize that she had relented, she wouldn't fight me on this any more. This was as close to giving her blessing as Leah was capable of doing. She glared at me, "Seth and I are leaving once the doctor has enough blood."

Seth glared at his sister, "No way, what if Jake needs us?"

Leah didn't waver. "No, I will order you leave if I have to, but we are leaving. Everyone is tiptoeing around this, but I won't. We don't have a fucking clue _what_ he's turning into. We had enough trouble with Charlie's first couple of months, there's no way I'm trusting Jake around you." Her tone rang with the finality of an Alpha's command. I wish I could disagree with her but if Carlisle was right, and a vampire's abilities were an enhancement of their natural strengths, then Jacob could become a truly terrifying creature.

It was obvious that Seth wanted to fight his sister on the command but he could only hold her eyes for a few seconds before looking away. She was a Beta, her orders were almost as good as an Alpha's. I turned back to Edward to thank him for his help, but he was already slipping out of the library, his shoulders slumped as though in grief.

Seth looked over at Jacob's gasping form, "How's he doing."

I couldn't think about Edward now, about his grief, or about the feelings he brought up in me. Checking Jacob's condition would be an almost welcome escape. "Carlisle's treatment seems to be working. Look at his fingers."

I picked up Jacob's right hand showed them the tips. They were indeed paler and felt stiff. However, something about them was off. I gently flattened them out on the cot. "What's wrong?" Leah asked.

"I think his fingers have grown." I quickly looked at the rest of Jacob's body and noticed other differences. The wolves may have shared his mind, but I was far more familiar with his human body than they were. He was emaciated from lack of food, but also taller, mostly in the torso. I didn't want to face the Cullens after my outburst in the hall, but this was important. "Carlisle I think we need you."

There was a lull in the conversation on the other side of the library doors as Carlisle excused himself from the family meeting. He slipped into the room and made his way over to us. He spared me an inscrutable look as he bent down next to me. It wasn't hostile, more uncertain. "What is wrong?"

I pointed out the changes. Carlisle nodded and agreed that it was odd. He even noticed several that I had not. The most striking of which was the growth of Jacob's teeth. They had increased in size and were more pointed. His eyes were also changing, closer in colour and shape to his wolf's than the warm brown I was used to. Carlisle was drawing some of Jacob's blood to examine again when he noticed my eyes tracking the drop left on Jacob's arm. "How long has it been since you hunted?" he asked.

I thought back over the past week. "Sixteen days, if you don't count..." I trailed off and glanced down at Jacob's body.

Carlisle nodded, "Jacob does seem stable. If you want to hunt, there are some Caribou just off the North ridge. It's all private land so there should be no campers to worry about."

I didn't want to leave Jacob, but my hunger was starting to become an issue. I had kept my shield up around Leah and Jacob ever since we had arrived in Alaska. It was more out of habit than anything else, though I was sure the Clearwaters were happy to have Edward out of their heads.

I briefly considered asking Leah to join me, therefore keeping her shielded, but Edward's first reaction to the wolves made me hesitant. Better she stay and protect Jacob, just in case.

There was one alternative, I could call Charlie and ask him to shield Sam. He was nowhere near as adept as I was with the mental ability, but it would work. Jacob would be unprotected, but Edward would be hearing no pack secrets from him in his current haze. My chest tightened at the thought of Jacob's torment. Part of me felt like I deserved the pain the thirst brought with it, a penance for what I had done.

The rational part of me knew that I had to stay strong in case of a Volturi attack. Over the years we had found that if Jacob was out of range I could shield one of his betas, giving the other wolves a degree of protection almost equivalent to when Jacob was directly protected. Even now I could feel the rest of the pack hovering in the distance through my connection to Leah. It was one of the reasons Sam and Billy had agreed to let Leah come with me. I doubted they could have stopped her if they had tried, but the pack safety had to be a top priority and that was enough to sway Sam to our side.

"That's a good idea Carlisle. Do you mind if I call Forks first?"

He nodded, "Of course," he pointed across the library to the phone. I hurried over and dialled Charlie's number. He picked up before the first ring was over. "Bells?"

"Hi dad."

I heard him let out an unnecessary breath. "Sam said you found them."

"Yeah, Carlisle thinks he can keep Jacob alive through the transformation."

I worded my request carefully, "I'm leaving Leah with Jacob so I can hunt, can you help out with Sam?"

Charlie didn't answer for a few seconds, "I've got them."

"Thanks dad."

"Be safe."

When I hung up and turned back to Carlisle, his forehead was furrowed in concern., "You would tell us if something was truly wrong in Forks, wouldn't you?"

Had something in my voice given away the constant fear of Volturi reprisal. I fought the urge to squirm under his knowing eyes. I would not bring any more people into this awful conflict. The pack was already marked, there was no need to put the Cullens in danger. Even getting Carlisle's help with Jacob could result in a death sentence for the Cullens if Aro got wind of it. "It's fine." Carlisle seemed to realize that I wouldn't say anything more and let the matter drop. Leah and Seth had been watching the exchange silently. "I'll be back as soon as possible." I told them.

The front hall was deserted when I left the library. I was both relieved and disappointed that Edward was not there. I forcefully pushed thoughts of him out of my mind. I could hear the Cullens at the opposite end of the house and decided to slip out before I ran into any of them.

I couldn't believe how I was behaving. Carlisle and Esme were helping us so much, and the first thing I did was tackle Edward and throw him into a wall. It was unnerving how naturally the grappling hold had slipped onto Edward's neck. It was one of many moves Renata had helped drill into Charlie and I.

While Renata was not a fighter, she was trained by the Volturi and had passed that encyclopedic knowledge on to us. She showed the wolves how to fight a vampire that knew how to fight wolves. She trained Charlie and I while Jacob was sleeping. We rarely spent a night without being run through combat drills by the timid shield. I would never be a match for one of the Volturi thugs, but that wasn't the point of the training.

The members of the guard that did the actual fighting had been selected for their physical prowess. Even without the years of training, one of them would have torn their way through both Charlie and I in seconds.

The point of the training was to provide Charlie and I with enough skill to give us those seconds if Renata's shield failed. If we could avoid instant dismemberment we could keep our shields up that much longer. A second's reprieve for the wolves could mean all the difference in a fight between beings that moved as quickly as our kinds.

The moment I realized how I had attacked Edward, I pushed myself away as though he had burned me. I had tackled him to keep anyone from starting a war, not to kill him myself.

Once outside the Cullens' house, I ran in the direction of the herd Carlisle mentioned. As though the situation were not already complicated enough, there was Edward and the emotions he had churned up. Edward had touched me, he had touched my cheek as though he cared, and my traitorous body had responded. For a second the urge to fall into his arms had been overpowering. Nothing else mattered, not my marriage, not the pack, not the fact that he was only acting that way out of pity.

I was almost thankful that he said those horrible things about the wolves. It made me angry enough to break the effect he had. It made me remember who I was. I managed to crest the North ridge before breaking down. Everything from the past two days seemed to hit me at once. Billy's look of betrayal as I tried to explain why Jacob needed the pack doctor. Jacob's moans and screams as the venom ravaged his body. Carlisle's kind eyes not judging me for my actions when I deserved to be judged. Edward, Edward whose impossibly handsome face and soft soft hands made me doubt my commitment to Jacob. Was this what imprinting felt like? I finally understood why Jacob had feared it so much. It felt like there were two Bella's. There was Bella Black, Jacob's wife, shield for the Quileute, teacher. Then there was Bella Swan, an insecure little girl who needed Edward Cullen's love. I didn't want to be that Bella, I wanted to be Bella Black. I shuddered, it felt like Edward was taking everything that made me who I was.

Great wracking sobs shook my body. I was only vaguely aware when Esme arrived and gathered me into her arms. She didn't say anything, just rocked me gently until I managed to regain some composure. When I finally calmed she let me go and I brushed my braid back over my shoulder. For a long time neither of us spoke.

It was Esme that finally broke the silence with an unexpected question. "The children you teach. They are all wolves aren't they?"

I nodded, Esme's warm, understanding nature seemed to pull the words from my mouth. "Sometimes a child phases and the parents can't cope. They can't go to school, and they can't stay near their mothers so I help take care of them." I thought back to my boys fondly. "The res managed to get them labelled special needs so the government supplies funding to help them. It's enough to keep them fed and pay me a salary."

"I can see you care for them deeply."

I smiled, "They're my boys." I did not need to explain to Esme about caring for others' children.

"I apologize for Edward's behaviour. He should not have said those things to you." I was surprised that she looked so embarrassed. After all, it was me that had hit her son.

I starred off at the horizon for a while. "It wasn't just what Edward said Esme." I hesitated, knowing that he would hear every word of this conversation in her thoughts. "The wolves have something called imprinting. When the wolf sees their imprint, nothing else matters except that person. The first time it happened to one of the pack, Jacob was terrified. He made me promise to help him fight it off if it ever happened to him."

I could tell Esme was confused about why I was telling her all this. "As silly as it sounds, I think my feelings for Edward are very similar to an imprint. After he left, it felt like hole had been carved in my chest, it took months before I could function again. Maybe I would have gotten better in time, but then Laurent happened, and I made a choice to move on. Jacob isn't a silver medal, but when I saw Edward I felt like it would be so easy to give up everything and run into his arms. Run away and leave everything that matters to me, Jacob, the pack, Charlie, my boys." I bowed my head in shame. "I was as mad at myself as I was with Edward."

Esme put a hand on my knee, "It's alright Bella. Edward has been going through the same thing. He hasn't been the same since he left Forks."

My head lifted in surprise. A treacherous part of me buoyed by the thought that Edward still cared. "Then why did he leave me?" I hated how my voice wavered.

Esme sighed, "He genuinely thought that he was protecting you."

I laughed bitterly, "He managed to hurt me more than anything else in my entire life, because he wanted to protect me?" How could Edward have made that decision for the both of us?

Esme looked truly sad when she said, "He doesn't actually have much experience with relationships. For a long time Carlisle and I believed that Edward had been changed too young, that he was frozen at an age were he would never be able to form a true bond with another." Esme was crying tearlessly, "I was so happy when he found you."

I rubbed comforting circles around her back as I had with Emile Uley when she had gone to the hospital for a tubectomy (she had not wanted to bring any more children into our war). I felt as helpless now as I did then, I didn't know what else I should have been doing to help Esme, what could I say that would make her feel better.

There was little doubt that the years since Forks had been hard on Esme. I couldn't give her a daughter in law, but I could sit here with her. She cared so much for the well being of her family that my next words were difficult to say.

"If Edward still feels for me a fraction of what I felt for him, then I am sorry. I love him, I don't have a choice in that, but I choose Jacob." Esme nodded, understanding my decision even if she did not like it. We sat together in silence, watching the false dusk of the arctic approach. I realized how much I had needed this break from Jacob's care, to soothe the raw edges of my nerves.

After feeding we returned to the Cullens' house. Esme didn't mention Edward, though she did offer the use of her deep freeze for the caribou carcass I had drained. The food Seth and Leah had brought would not last for much longer.

The next days were tense. Edward kept his distance from the library and I kept Jacob shielded to spare Edward the headache of Jacob's pain. Alice and Esme visited the library frequently, Alice even managed to convince me to let her give me a bit of a makeover. While I enjoyed having my hair done, I drew the line at trying on outfits. I wasn't in the mood, and I didn't feel comfortable in clothes that cost more than the van we had used to drive here.

As the change progressed Jacob's physical changes accelerated. Jacob just kept getting longer. It was no longer subtle, his feet now hung off the edge of the bed. If he stood strait he would be near eight and a half feet tall. His hands had changed shape as well. The two middle fingers were considerably longer than the outer two. His teeth were all pointed like a wolf's. They had also increased in size to the point where the canines showed even when his mouth was closed. His irises and pupils were huge and looked more like those of wolf than of a human or vampire. Though the colour was that of a vampire. Lastly was the hair. A pronounced mane of thick hair had formed at the top of his back where his hackles would have been when he was in his wolf form. His hackles and the roots of his previously black hair were streaked with with the russet colour of his fur. Without food his body had become very skinny, almost skeletal. We tried feeding him, but his body quickly lost the ability to process food.

Unlike the Cullens or any normal vampire, Jacob would never be able to blend in with humans. His height alone set him apart from any other person on the planet. It took nearly two weeks from the time I had bitten him for the change to be complete. During that time Emmett and Rosalie arrived. I was surprised when the blond didn't immediately start making snide comments about the wolves, I had to wonder what Esme had told her. True to her word, Leah packed up and left shortly after Carlisle decided that we had enough blood, she nearly had to drag her brother out by his ear. As I hugged them goodbye, I had to wonder if I would ever see them again. Would it ever be safe for Jacob to be around them?

In the last stages we moved Jacob outside to protect Carlisle's priceless collection of books as well as prevent Jacob from feeling trapped by walls on all sides. Carlisle and I set down Jacob's stretcher where the alpine forest bordered their lawn. Taking and unneeded breath. I turned to Edward and asked, "Do you know how he's doing."

I hated the way Edward's entire countenance brightened whenever I talked to him. It made guilt well up in my throat, I didn't want him in love with me. He winced as I removed the shield from Jacob. "He is in a lot of pain."

I knew that much, I clarified, "But is he still... there?"

Whatever Edward saw seemed to upset him a great deal. Out of compassion I raised the shield again. "His mind is still intact. I believe he understands that the change is nearing an end."

"Thank you." The words gave me some hope.

Jasper and Emmett stood between Jacob and the rest of the Cullens while Jacob's heart slowed to a stop. In the sudden stillness I felt strangely naked and exposed. I had grown so used to Jacob's strained breathing that it's absence was eerie. A few Caribou had been penned up away from the house, but they were just out of earshot. Jacob did not move.

I had elected to give him some space when he woke, knowing how terrifying the first moments could be, but I started inching closer to him. "He's scared." Jasper gave me a warning, but I didn't listen. I had begun to dread the possibility that he wouldn't wake. The fact that he could feel anything at all was a relief.

I dropped my shield and Edward said, "He is having trouble understanding what's going on." Edward paused. "His senses seem to be more developed than ours, his mind can't deal with the information."

"Jacob?" I asked.

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Author's note: Thanks for reading. Liked it? Hated it? Tell me why. Also, in case you hadn't noticed I don't really have a beta for this story. If you notice any glaring grammar errors let me know and I can fix them. As Smokey the bear says, only you can fix stupid grammar and spelling errors.

Thanks for reading reviewing, tracking and favouriting.


	23. A Wolf in Jake's Clothing

-Don't own anything

-wish I did.

-Hope you like.

-**Warning**: a bit of sex in this chapter, nothing explicit, but it may push at the edge of the teen rating.

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**Bella's POV**

Jacob's head rolled to the side, and his eyes cracked open, revealing nothing but black. The irises were much larger than those of a normal vampire and left no room for the white of the eye. I could just make out a border between them and the pupils. He pulled in a lungful of air through his nose, scenting the area. Edward spoke for him, "He's weak, and very thirsty."

Jacob looked too weak to sit up and his face was pinched in pain. Inching forward, I kept my eyes down, treating Jacob like a freshly phased wolf. I didn't know how much of him was left, but looking a scared predator in the eyes was never a good idea. He tracked my every move.

"Be careful Bella, he's terrified." This time it was Jasper who cautioned me.

I kept my movements slow and smooth until I was close enough to touch him. His weakness worried me, newborns were meant to be stronger than other vampires, not so frail they couldn't move. I reached out with my hand until it was six inches from his face. He inhaled again, taking my scent. When he didn't attack I let my hand rest against his cheek just at the edge of his jaw. It was show of submission that the wolves used when they greeted each other, I could feel the muscles in his jaw and neck relax under my hand. He seemed to be responding to my body language as a wolf would. I didn't know whether or not to be relieved.

In the low calming voice I had used during Charlie's first weeks, I asked, "Jacob, do you recognize me?"

He didn't say anything, but Edward answered, "He knows you're familiar."

"Can I help you feed?"

Edward answered again, "Yes."

I picked Jacob up as gently as possible and carried him towards the corralled animals. While his weight was not an issue for my strength, his size made carrying him awkward. I held him in my arms in a bridal carry, legs dangling to the ground, head lolling backwards. The scene would have been comical if I weren't so worried about Jacob's well being. He turned his head towards the pen as we neared the animals. I could feel him twitch with every beat of their hearts, he was nearly vibrating.

The pen was fenced with a simple wire mesh fixed to thick wooden posts forced into the ground by Emmett. It was eight feet high, but I hopped over it without jostling Jacob.

The caribou became skittish as we approached and I could feel Jacob's muscles tensing. We had caught six animals to be sure we had enough. I seated Jacob on the ground, leaning his back against the side of the pen and caught one of the bucks by the scruff of the neck. I had to hold the first animal to Jacob's mouth, it bucked and struggled uselessly against my steel grip. The jugular was inches from Jacob's teeth when he struck like a snake. His massive canines tore into the soft living flesh and in seconds there was nothing but a husk on the ground. Then Jacob was on to the second one. His movements were weak and jerky, but he was moving under his own power.

By the time he finished that one, he was moving with the power and speed of a normal vampire. He made it through the rest of the animals easily. With each drained body he became stronger, as the last of the six fell to the ground. Jacob looked off to the horizon where the herd had moved. Then he was gone.

I had never seen anything move as fast as Jacob did in his chase. His disproportionate limbs allowed him to run on all fours like a cheetah sprinting across the Savana, each stride leaving great gashes in the arctic landscape. "He's after the herd," Edward shouted.

We pursued him as quickly as we could, though faster than us, he did stop to feed. At Jasper's warning I didn't get closer than fifty feet. He fed, and fed, and fed. The heard had panicked, but he just kept following them. I didn't even know how all the blood he drank could fit inside his body. It had to have something to do with the how his human body had contained the massive bulk of his wolf. One thing I did notice was that he was no longer emaciated. The animal blood filled his muscles, making his build comparable to that from before the change. Thirty six caribou died before Jacob stopped.

When he finally sucked the last of the blood from a large female, the herd was scattered and in chaos. He watched silently as the stragglers disappear over a ridge and into the woods. There was a hint of indecision in his movements as he watched them go. Instead of following he circled the corpse he had just consumed, looking at it in confusion. He walked on the balls of his feet with a deep bend in his knees, his shoulders were hunched forward, it looked like he could spring into a run or an attack at any minute. He was calmer now that he had fed.

Despite the lack of humanity in his new form and movements, there was a certain wild beauty about him. The muscles of his legs filled out the pair of sweat pants Emmett had given him. His upper body was bare, and moved like living stone, muscles rippling under granite skin. While paler than he had been, he didn't have the ivory pallor the Cullens or I possessed. I definitely appreciated Jacob's new body, though it was strange seeing him with no instinctive animosity tugging at my senses.

Jasper detected the change in my mood, and Edward picked it up from Jasper's mind; both looked at me strangely. I would have blushed if I could. Edward cleared his throat. "We should try and get him back to our land." He spoke uncertainly, and seemed uncomfortable with the emotions he had just read from Jasper's mind. He came to my side and took my elbow as if to guide me back towards the Cullen's property.

This was a mistake, in an instant, Jacob was moving towards us, no longer calm. Edward pulled me roughly behind him just as Jacob closed the distance. This was also a mistake.

In a movement too fast to follow Jacob backfisted Edward in the chest. Edward was sent flying though the air like a rag doll. As he flew I realized that the blow had almost rent his body at the waist. The tissue was torn as though it were no more than human flesh.

Jasper and Emmett sprang at Jacob in unison. Jacob plucked Emmett from the air by his neck and swung him into Jasper. Jasper hit the ground so hard he bounced. Emmett was struggling against Jacob's grip helplessly, but his hands couldn't reach Jacob's face and merely batted against his bicep. Jacob growled, his hackles raised as Jasper tried to get up. He kicked Jasper in the ribs before the man could stand, causing the smaller vampire to fly through the air as Edward had.

Rosalie screamed when Jacob grabbed one of Emmett's arms and began pulling the other vampire towards his snarling muzzle. Emmett kicked against Jacob's torso, but it did nothing to slow the approach of Jacob's massive teeth.

The other Cullen's were moving in. I didn't know whose safety I was more concerned for, Jacob's or theirs. With no other option I sprang at the pair and squeezed myself into the narrowing gap. I wormed my way between them, using Jacob's thighs as a platform to push myself upwards. Emmett's nose graze the back of my skull, my face was inches from Jacob's massive fangs. I could hear the seems of my clothing rip as I forced myself upwards. I absently realized that I had draped my shield back around Jacob's mind.

Soon we were face to face. He looked surprised to see me appear in his field of view. His irises were now a deep brown, almost identical to those of his wolf's. I knew those eyes almost as well as I knew his human ones, and I was unafraid. Jacob's wolf had never hurt me. Those eyes were the last thing I had seen as a human and I knew that they belonged to the man I loved. This reaction was probably not completely sane considering what I had just seen done to Edward, Jasper, and Emmett, but I trusted Jacob.

It took him a moment to register who I was. "Bella?" He was confused, but he did relax his hold on Emmett. The Cullens stopped their advance.

I took advantage of the pause to bring my hands up on either side of his face. "It's me Jacob." He continued to stare at me with the same confused expression. Keeping my voice calm, I asked, "Do you think you can put Emmett down?"

He glanced past me and seemed surprised by the fact that he was holding Emmett up by his neck and arm. Emmett was perfectly still, not wanting to spook Jacob again. It took a few seconds, but he slowly he released Emmett's arm, then his neck. Emmett dropped to the ground and backed off quickly.

I stayed were I was, perched of the tops of Jacob's thighs, hands on the sides of his face. We were almost the same height this way. "Bella?" He asked again, this time with more confidence. His voice was much deeper than it had been, and resonated through his massive chest. There was also a rough edge to it that reminded me of a growl.

I nodded, "It's me Jake." He brought one of his massive hands to the side of my face and let his fingers trail through my hair. I leaned into the touch. It was so strange no longer feeling his heat. I had come to enjoy it, like adding jalapenos to a meal.

He buried his head into the side of my neck just bellow my left ear and inhaled deeply. "You smell good."

Before I could respond, he tensed again. I looked behind me and saw him glaring at the Cullens. The family was watching us with undisguised apprehension. Relief flooded through me when I saw Edward standing with them, glad he had not been seriously injured. Jacob growled, a deep canine sound that a human throat could not reproduce. "Cullens."

I nodded, hoping to keep the peace I said, "Yes Jacob, it's the Cullens. They helped you. Do you want to meet them?"

Jacob shook his head slowly, "I want to kill them."

Rosalie growled. It came off as a poor imitation when compared to Jacob's. Though perhaps my opinion was biased.

Jacob moved his hands to my hips and made to remove me from my perch. I didn't know what would happen if I weren't between him and his prey so I talked quickly. "No Jacob, they're friends. You can't hurt them."

Jacob ignored me and began to lift me off him. I clamped my hands to the sides of his head and said the only thing I could think of, "No Jacob, remember the treaty. They haven't broken it, so you can't kill them."

Jacob paused, I didn't know how much of his mind had survived the transformation, but I knew that if anything of the old Jacob was left, it would be his duty to the pack. He bowed his head as if trying to summon the faint memories from before. "Treaty." He muttered, "Can't kill them unless they break the treaty."

He lifted me off of his legs and put me down next to him. Without looking away from me he said, "They should go."

I could tell that they were putting him on edge. I took his hand and looked over at the group of Cullens. "He's right, it might be best if you give him some space."

Carlisle spoke for the family, "If you are sure that is wise."

"Carlisle!" Edward sounded betrayed.

Jacob's eyes instantly locked on the much smaller man. A growl rose in his throat. I squeezed his hand. "I will be fine, he won't hurt me."

I knew that I could make no such guaranty, but the other vampires just seemed to put Jacob on edge. The main reason for them to be out here was to help keep him in control. The ease with which he had torn through their three best fighters made me think that their presence would cause more harm than good.

I saw them back away slowly. Edward looked like he wanted to stay, but Emmett kept a firm grip on his upper arm, dragging him with the rest of the family. Once they were out of sight Jacob relaxed by a small amount. I put my hand on his massive forearm and ran it up and down to comfort him.

He turned and looked down at me, still a bit tense. "What's the matter?" I asked.

He looked back to the ridge behind which the Cullen's had disappeared and said, "Leeches."

"Would it be better if I left you alone."

He shook his head, "No, you're Bella."

I felt a little thrill of happiness that he still recognized and trusted me. I also noticed how filthy he was, the leftovers of his caribou massacre had covered him in blood and gore. "There's a lake a little further into the park, we can get you cleaned up."

Jacob looked down at himself and took in the changes. It was as though he only now realized what he was, "I'm a leech." He sounded hollow.

Without making any sudden movements, I hooked my hand behind his elbow and tugged him in the direction of the lake. He let himself be lead. "I'm sorry." I whispered.

Jacob didn't say anything as we neared the water. He looked out over the small glacier formed lake and paused at the edge. Rather than get in he sat on the bank. I stood next to him, only slightly taller in this position. "Does the world always look like this to you?" he asked.

He was examining his hands and the land around him. "Like what?" I asked, curious about what he was seeing.

He turned back to me, "There are so many more colours, and it's so bright."

I was glad he had found something he liked about his new situation. "That's one of the first thing I noticed when I changed."

Surprisingly calm for a newborn, he sat in silence, looking out over the water. He seemed content just sitting here. Seconds turned into minutes and I began to wonder what was going on in his mind. Eventually he said, "The wolf is dead." I wasn't sure what he meant, but I could tell the loss hurt deeply.

He looked out over the water. "I didn't see it before, I didn't realize until the fire, but he was always there, even before we changed." He brought his hand to his chest and rubbed absently. "He kept me alive through the fire, but he died with me." He stopped talking, as though so many words had tired him.

I finally realized what he was talking about. After Jacob had changed, I had often felt like there were two of him. One was the boy I had grown up with, the other the was the wolf, the Alpha of the Quilieute. I had often resented the wolf for taking away the carefree Jacob that I had loved as a friend, but over time I had grown to appreciate the new side of Jacob. The wolf gave him anger, but also strength. It made him stubborn, but but gave him the iron will he needed to run the pack. Over the years, Jacob had found a balance between the two sides of his personality.

The change seemed to have ended the dichotomy, fusing bits of Jacob to bits of the wolf until only one being was left. While Jacob may look and act more wolflike than before, that was it. There was nothing else of the true wolf left in him. I didn't need to talk to Carlisle, or watch Jacob try and fail to realize that he would not be phasing anymore.

I ducked my head, crying without tears. "I'm sorry Jacob."

He took my hand, and squeezed it. "It was an accident." It wasn't forgiveness, but it was close. Jacob was forgiving by nature, even if the wolf wasn't. However, I had hurt him badly, he had spent two weeks in the worst physical pain imaginable because I was careless. Real forgiveness would take time.

We lapsed into silence again and I let him break it. "I can feel them."

"Who?"

He looked off into the general direction of the Cullen's house. "The Cullens." He looked slightly to the North. "There are five in that direction." He looked off to the East. "A couple over there."

"You can tell where the vampires are? Like Demetri?"

He shrugged. "I want to kill them." He said it absently, the same way someone would say, 'I feel like having toast for breakfast'. There was no emotional investment in the thought of killing other vampires. It scared me, it was exactly how Renata had talked about humans when she had first come to stay with us. Before her status as prisoner/informant had melted into a status as Charlie's girlfriend/companion.

While Jacob had been changing I had asked Carlisle what he thought Jacob's abilities may be. My mind wandered back to Carlisle's theory about vampiric gifts. As a human Jacob's special talent had been killing vampires, it seemed like he now had all the tools he needed to do just that. While I hated asking this I needed to know. "What about me?"

When we had started a physical relationship we had set certain ground rules. The most important of which was that we had to be honest about our bodies' reactions to one another. Especially the negative ones. This was probably why it had taken years for one of us to slip up and injure the other. When I was thirsty he kept his distance, when he was angry I did the same. The reason our relationship worked was because we accepted what we were rather than try and ignore it.

Jacob turned to me and stared with his inhuman eyes, I fought the urge to look away from them. Finally he answered, "Less than when I was a wolf."

He placed his hands on my hips and manoeuvred me in front of him, my feet straddled his outstretched legs. Our eyes were nearly level. For the second time that day he buried his nose in my neck and breathed in. "You smell like you did before we changed." I shivered.

His thumbs began to make absentminded circles on the sides of my stomach. My hands slid up his massive arms until they rested at the base of his neck. The changes in his body were more telling now that he was up and moving. His skin was as hard as my own, and I was enjoying exploring the new sensation of it under my fingertips. I tangled my fingers in the fur that had formed on his upper back and leaned into him. The nip of his teeth on my neck caused me to jump in surprise. It wasn't hard enough to pierce the skin. More like the play bites the wolf pups gave me when they were in the mood to roughhouse.

Backing towards the water's edge, I pulled Jacob with me. He scooted forward until he sat waist deep in the clear water. I used a handful of sand to scoured the bits of caribou from Jacob's body. It didn't take long for him to react to the physical contact.

We started gently, Jacob was clearly terrified of hurting me, however that only lasted until we lost our clothes. For the first time in my life I was able to let go completely during sex. I didn't have to worry about biting him, or about crushing him with my legs. He didn't have to worry about phasing or swallowing my venom.

The sex was rough, bordering on violent, but it was amazing. I raked my fingers down his back while he moved on top of me. As he finished his powerful hands held my hips so tightly I wondered that my body didn't break in two. When he was done, I kept my arms and legs wrapped tightly around his body, not wanting him to move as I contracted around him.

We stayed together like that for what felt like hours. All the stress of the past weeks had bled out during our frantic love making, leaving me more relaxed than I had been in years. We eventually separated, and he slid down my body so we could be face to face. I giggled when I saw his satisfied grin.

We cleaned off in the lake. The water brushed against my thighs as I put my hair back in its usual tight braid. Jacob watched with his deep brown eyes. Though I knew he couldn't read my mind, I felt like he was seeing every thought that went through my head. It was nearing dusk when we finally got dressed .

We didn't talk much, but I did manage to convince him to call his father. My phone was back at the Cullen's place and I hoped Billy would agree to speak to Jacob. My turning his son had no doubt confirmed his opinion of how dangerous our kind was. First, we needed to get back to the Cullens' and get a phone. "Do you think we can go back and see the Cullens?"

Jacob looked in the direction of their house. "The men are just beyond the ridge. If they don't try and touch you I should be fine."

I would have flushed with embarrassment if it were possible. "How long have they been there?"

Jacob grinned, "A while."

I covered my face with my hands, "Oh god." I had grown used to the pack knowing everything I did with Jacob, but to have the Cullens know that much about me was just awkward. I heard Jacob chuckling.

It annoyed me that he hadn't warned me. "You could have said something." I snapped.

He continued to chuckle, "We were a little busy." I rolled my eyes and splashed him. I was still annoyed, but it was good to see him laugh.

We set off for the ridge at a fast run. Jacob matched my pace effortlessly, not even bothering with running on all fours as he had while hunting. We cleared the hill and found the Cullen men and Rosalie waiting for us. Esme and Alice were absent, probably at their husbands' requests. Emmett gave me a knowing smirk and I dropped my eyes. There was no question he had heard what we were up to. Edward and Jacob both growled at him. Jacob was tensing to attack and I quickly took his hand. He squeezed back tight enough to hurt, but I hid my wince. Hesitantly I said, "Jacob, these are the Cullens. Carlisle, Emmett, Rosalie, Jasper, and Edward." I hesitated on Edward's name, not sure how my husband would react.

He gave Edward a toothy grin that was anything but friendly but did show off his new fangs. "It's been a while." I vaguely remembered that Jacob had met him once at my prom. To Edward's credit he didn't back down or look away from the much larger man. "How are the ribs?" Jacob asked, his grin turning malicious.

Edward subconsciously brought a hand to his side where Jacob had nearly torn him in half. I pulled my hand from Jacob's and smacked him on the arm. He broke eye contact and looked at me, surprised. "Don't be a jerk Jacob. They were trying to help you."

He looked like he was going to protest, but I cut him off, "I know your body wants to hunt them, but that comment was all you." Considering everything the Cullens had done to help us over the past couple of weeks Jacob could try and hold back the obnoxious comments.

He glared at the ground and looked very petulant. I watched him expectantly. Finally he said, "Fine. I'm sorry for hitting you Edward."

Edward nodded uneasily at the apology. Carlisle held out a hand to Jacob, ever the peace maker. "It is good to finally meet you Jacob Black. Bella has spoken very highly of you. I hope the transition has not been too jarring."

Jacob tensed and nodded uneasily. "Yeah, um, good to meet you too I guess." He didn't step in to take Carlisle's hand, but I could tell he was actually trying to be civil.

Jasper was watching the whole situation with disbelief. "How is he so calm? Newborns don't act this way." His frustration was clear, and Jacob tensed at his tone. He clenched his fists and his forearms bulged. I once again placed a calming hand on his arm, hoping to prevent another fight.

Carlisle was the one who answered. "It may be for the same reason his eyes are not red. His transformation took so long that he could have burnt through all the human blood left in his system. Considering how emaciated he was by the time his heart stopped and how much he fed, virtually all the blood in his system came from the caribou."

I felt a wave of relief wash over me, I knew how painful the first year's thirst could be, it was a blessing that Jacob may avoid it. Emmett, however was not so happy, "Wait, you mean he gets to stay that strong? How is is that fair?"

In an instant Jacob was shaking, the tone once again setting him off. Rosalie was at Emmett's side. She hissed out, "Shut up Emmett."

Jacob began taking deep breaths. I recognized the technique as one he taught the newly phased when they had issues with their tempers. After a tense moment and no doubt with some help from Jasper, Jacob calmed. "Does it mean I'll always be this angry?" he asked.

Carlisle nodded, "It is a very real possibility."

Jacob sighed, "Great."

I rubbed his arm, as far as I was concerned we were fairly lucky with the transformation so far. "Do you mind if we bring Jacob back to your house Carlisle? I don't like being so near hiking trails."

"That would be fine, however there are still several Caribou we have not managed to retrieve. It would look suspicious if a ranger were to come across so many dead animals."

We quickly gathered the fallen prey and brought them back to the Cullen's to be burnt. The entire time Edward kept watching Jacob and I. I found it slightly unsettling while Jacob found it irritating. He became more agitated the longer Edward continued. Jacob drew some comfort by keeping himself between the two of us most of the time.

I was surprised that Emmett didn't bear Jacob any ill will for the attack earlier that day, in fact the lunk was already making jokes about it. While heaving an exsanguinated carcass onto the bonfire he shouted, "Don't get too cocky wolfman, I'm already planning a rematch."

Jacob was a little perplexed by Emmett's carefree nature. Under different circumstances the two may have actually been friends. It was unfair that Jacob blamed the Cullens for virtually everything that had happened to us and the tribe. It was something he and Charlie had in common. I couldn't place the blame at their feet though. The risks of dating a vampire had been explained to me many times, but I had still pursued a relationship with Edward. I had a share of the blame for the mess we were in even if he didn't see it.

When we got back to the Cullens' house, Esme and Alice were outside with one of the Denali women, Tanya I think. Alice and Esme waved. Esme even sent Jacob a friendly smile, it did little to hide her relief. I couldn't blame her for her worry, Jacob's attack that morning had been terrifying.

Tanya's eyes widened at the sight of him. She stepped forward brazenly though she did keep about twenty feet between herself and my husband. "You must be what all the fuss has been about." I wasn't sure if I imagined the extra swing of her hips, or the slight purr in her voice. "Bella caused quite a stir when she showed up with that wolf." She looked at me with considerably less interest, "We haven't been introduced, I'm Tanya."

She held out her hand for me to shake. I walked in and took it, though she didn't take her eyes off of Jacob. The woman was, in a word, intimidating. While not as beautiful as Rosalie, she simply exuded sex, and I really did not like the way she looked at Jacob. Edward had mentioned that she had been interested in him before he had come to Forks. I was glad that I had never met her while I was human. She would have just made me feel more insecure about my relationship with Edward.

I released her hand and turned to Esme and Alice. "Esme, Alice, this is my husband Jacob Black. Jacob these are Esme and Alice."

I hadn't been expecting more than a nod of acknowledgement from Jacob. Which was why I was surprised when he walked to my side and held out a hand to each of them. When he shook Alice's hand he said, "Bella said you were a good friend."

Jasper's tension at having Jacob so close to his wife was palpable, he was probably using his most of his focus trying to keep Jacob calm. Jacob stepped back from from the women. Esme smiled again, she seemed to understand how much effort the simple greeting had taken him. "Welcome to our home Jacob. I already prepared a guest room for you and Bella. The two of you are welcome to stay until you get used to the change."

Jacob was as uncomfortable as I was when it came to charity. I had gotten a bit better at accepting gifts over the years, but we had already disrupted their lives enough. "We can't impose like that, you've already helped more than we could have hoped." Without the need to eat, sleep, or go to the bathroom, there really wasn't a need for vampires to stay in a house. Jacob and I would be perfectly fine outside.

Esme shook her head, "Nonsense Bella, we all welcome the chance get to know you and Jacob now that he's recovered."

Jacob looked uneasy, but I relented, it was nearly impossible to say no to Esme. "If you're sure we won't be in the way."

Tanya clapped her hands together, "Wonderful! I'm sure Eleazar will be happy that you are staying. Ever since he heard a werewolf was turning into one of us he has wanted a chance to examine him."

"Why?" I demanded. The question came off more suspicious than I had intended, but I didn't like the idea of Jacob being prodded like some kind of experiment.

Tanya raised her hands in a conciliatory gesture. "Eleazar has the ability to sense a vampire's gifts. He was curious about what someone as unique as your husband might be able to do."

Jacob was instantly suspicious. "I don't think that's a good idea."

I whispered in Quileute, "It may be good to know how your tracking works. He could help us."

Jacob clenched jaw and responded in the same language, "Too many people know about us already."

Tanya's eyes narrowed in suspicion, though her tone stayed lite. "It is up to you of course. He did say that he would have difficulties seeing anything if you kept that shield up."

I did my best to hide my sudden unease, I didn't like the fact that someone outside the pack and the Cullens knew so much about my abilities. There was also the fact that Irina was still mourning Laurent's disappearance. Carlisle had warned me not to mention Laurent to the Denali coven in case she were to react badly to the news that Jacob had killed him. Not wanting another Victoria on our hands I wanted to stay as far away from them as possible.

Carlisle came to our rescue. "I apologize Tanya. Jacob is having some difficulties adapting to the presence of other vampires. It may be safest if he were to avoid interacting with too many others until we know that he has control over his new strength."

Tanya smiled graciously, "Of course Carlisle, I understand." She turned back to Jacob, "We have all been there. Our first years can be so trying. If you ever need any help acclimating yourself to other vampires, Carlisle has my phone number." She winked and flitted off. As she disappeared into the alpine forest that separated the two Covens' lands, I realized that I was growling. Maybe Jacob wasn't the only one who had to work on their temper around other vampires.

* * *

Thanks for reading, hope you enjoyed Jacob as a vampire.

Question: have you run into any other stories with VampWolf Jacob or other pack member? If so tell me in the reviews or PMs, I'm curious how other authors handle it. I'm kind of making it up as I go.


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